Potential complements: 看得懂 / 看不懂
Slip 得 or 不 between a verb and its result to say whether the result can be reached: 看懂 → 看得懂 “can understand it”, 看不懂 “can’t”.
Structure
动词 + 得 + 结果／趋向补语（能） ｜ 动词 + 不 + 结果／趋向补语（不能）
Explanation
Chinese words in this text can be activated to show a dictionary gloss.
This is the pattern that makes a resultative or directional complement negotiable. Take a verb that already carries a result — “read and understand”, “finish eating”, “hear”, “get up”, “get in” — and insert or in the middle. says the result is reachable, says it is not: / , / , / , / , / .
Start with what it actually means: the potential complement is about circumstances, not permission and not training. says the book is too hard for me right now; ， says the speed is the problem. Compare (“I never learnt to read”) and (“I’m not allowed to”), which say something else entirely.
Two of these complements are best learnt as vocabulary. in this pattern is read liǎo, not le, and means “manage it”: ， “There’s too much food, we can’t finish it”; “I can’t stand it.” means “manage to shift it”: ， “This case is too heavy, I can’t lift it.”
The always goes inside. is wrong; the negator sits between the verb and the complement — . This is the one thing to over-practise, because every other Chinese negation the learner has met goes in front of the verb.
For a question, either add to the positive — ？ — or set the two halves against each other: ？
A word about frequency: the negative is far commoner than the positive in ordinary speech. Chinese speakers rarely announce out of the blue; they use it in answers () and in questions.
One incompatibility is worth flagging: a sentence reports something that was actually done, so it cannot contain a potential complement: is impossible.
Correct
Say each one out loud before moving on. The audio is a reference pronunciation, not a model to imitate exactly — match the tone contour, not the voice.
这本书太难了，我看不懂。這本書太難了，我看不懂。
Zhè (fourth tone, falling) běn (third tone, dipping) shū (first tone, high and level) tài (fourth tone, falling) nán (second tone, rising) le, (neutral tone) wǒ (third tone, dipping) kàn (fourth tone, falling) bu (neutral tone) dǒng. (third tone, dipping)···
This book is too hard — I can’t make sense of it.
老师说得太快了，我听不清楚。老師說得太快了，我聽不清楚。
Lǎoshī (third tone, dipping) shuō (first tone, high and level) de (neutral tone) tài (fourth tone, falling) kuài (fourth tone, falling) le, (neutral tone) wǒ (third tone, dipping) tīng (first tone, high and level) bu (neutral tone) qīngchu. (first tone, high and level)···
The teacher speaks too fast — I can’t catch it clearly.
菜太多了，我们两个人吃不了。菜太多了，我們兩個人吃不了。
Cài (fourth tone, falling) tài (fourth tone, falling) duō (first tone, high and level) le, (neutral tone) wǒmen (third tone, dipping) liǎng (third tone, dipping) ge (neutral tone) rén (second tone, rising) chī (first tone, high and level) bu (neutral tone) liǎo. (third tone, dipping)···
There’s far too much food — the two of us can’t finish it.
Incorrect — Common mistakes
These sentences are wrong. They are printed here on purpose, each one paired with the repair and the reason, because the error you can recognise is the error you stop making.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 我不看懂这本书。
Correct
Correct sentence: 我看不懂这本书。
Why: In a potential complement the negator goes *inside*, between the verb and its result. 不 in front of the verb turns the sentence into a refusal to read.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 声音太小，我听得不见。
Correct
Correct sentence: 声音太小，我听不见。
Why: The negative is V + 不 + complement, never V + 得不 + complement. 得 belongs to the positive form only; 得不 is the shape of a degree complement (跑得不快).
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 这本书我不能看懂。
Correct
Correct sentence: 这本书我看不懂。
Why: 能 is about ability or permission in general; the potential complement is the natural way to say a particular result is out of reach. Chinese speakers reach for 看不懂, not 不能看懂.
Compared with
Most errors with this pattern are not errors about this pattern — they are a neighbouring pattern arriving at the wrong moment. Read these side by side.
Both patterns put 得 after the verb, and that is where the confusion starts. The reliable test is the negative. A degree complement negates the *comment*: 他跑得不快 “He doesn’t run fast” — 得 stays and 不 comes after it. A potential complement negates the *result* by replacing 得 with 不: 他跑不快 “He can’t run fast.” So 得不 and 不 are not variants of one another; they belong to two different patterns. Two more clues: a degree complement normally keeps 很 (跑得很快), a potential one never does (看不懂很 is impossible); and a degree complement comments on how something is done in fact, while a potential complement says whether it can be done at all.
Degree complements: 他跑得很快 →会, 能 and 可以 sit in front of the verb and talk about the speaker: what they learnt, what they are physically capable of, what they are allowed to do. A potential complement sits inside the verb phrase and talks about the situation: whether this particular result can come off with this particular thing. 我不会游泳 “I never learnt to swim”, 今天我不能游泳 “I can’t swim today (I’m ill / it’s closed)”, but 这条河太宽了，我游不过去 “This river is too wide for me to swim across.” When the obstacle is the object, the distance or the noise rather than you, the potential complement is what a native speaker uses.
Saying “can”: 会, 能 and 可以 →Mini quiz
Question 1 / 3Total score: 0
Choose the correct way to say “I can’t understand this book.”