对得起

對得起

duìdeqǐ

verb HSK 7 #20,042

Meanings

1 to be worthy of
2 to not let someone down
3 to live up to

Characters

to face; toward

able to (complement marker)

to rise; to afford

Literally 'able to face' someone — meaning you can look them in the eye without guilt.

Examples

你要对得起父母的期望。

Nǐ yào duìdeqǐ fùmǔ de qīwàng.

You should live up to your parents' expectations.

他觉得自己对得起自己的良心。

Tā juéde zìjǐ duìdeqǐ zìjǐ de liángxīn.

He feels he has a clear conscience.

Tips

grammar

对得起 is a separable complement structure. The negative form is 对不起 (duìbuqǐ), which doubles as the common apology 'sorry' — literally 'I can't face you'.

memory

对得起 = 'can face someone' = worthy. 对不起 = 'can't face someone' = sorry. The pair makes both words easy to remember!

Stroke Order

对 duì

得 dé

起 qǐ