得 (dé): to obtain; to get

Meanings

1 to obtain; to get
2 to gain; to receive
3 to score (a point); to win
4 to catch (a disease)

Characters

得

dé

to obtain; to get

Examples

他得到了一个好消息。

Tā dédào le yī gè hǎo xiāoxi.

He got some good news.

我们队得了三分。

Wǒmen duì dé le sān fēn.

Our team scored three points.

她得了金牌。

Tā dé le jīnpái.

She won the gold medal.

Tips

usage

As dé, 得 is a verb covering acquisition in many flavors: receiving (得到), scoring (得分), winning (得奖), and even contracting illness (得病). The thread is 'come into possession of', whether you wanted to or not.

mistakes

Reserve dé for the verb meaning 'to obtain/score/win'. Between a verb and its complement, switch to toneless de: 跑得快 (runs fast), not pǎo dé kuài. For the spoken 'have to', switch to děi: 我得回家 (I have to go home).

Components

radical

彳 chì

step; left-side stride radical

Left 彳 is the step radical — a small footstep, the left half of 行 'to walk'. Anchors 得 in the motion family: 行, 往, 待, 街, 微. The original oracle-bone 得 showed a hand grasping a cowrie while walking — going out and getting — exactly the picture the three components recreate.

semantic

旦 dàn

dawn; sun over horizon (graphic residue)

Middle 日-over-一 is now read as 旦 dawn, but historically it's a stylised residue of 貝 cowrie / money — the thing being obtained in the original oracle-bone scene. Modern shape is opaque, but historically grounds the meaning 'gain, acquire'. Pure semantic role; supplies no sound. The substitution of 旦 for 貝 happened during the bronze-script period.

semantic

寸 cùn

thumb measure; hand

Bottom-right 寸 — a hand with a marker at the wrist showing the cùn 'inch' measure-point. In 得 it functions pictographically as a hand reaching out to take. Together: 彳 going + cowrie + 寸 hand = walk out, lay your hand on it, 得 it — exactly the action of obtaining.