…的 — the N that does VP.

grammar → …的

TSUMUGU · TBCL 2 (est.) · 語法

…的 grammar point · tier 1 · relative-clause 的 (the N that does VP)

· de

Attributive: a whole verb phrase sits before 的 to describe the noun behind it — the N that does VP.

Hook inherited from 的.

Attributive

框 · Frame

[verb phrase] 的 [noun]

觸 · Trigger

You want to pick out a noun by what it does, not just what it is.

序 · The move

1Name the noun you are pointing at.Which thing or person is the head?

2Build the whole verb phrase that describes it.Is it a full action (verb + its object/result), not just an adjective?

3Put the verb phrase first, then 的, then the noun.Does the doing come before 的 and the noun after, never reversed?

例 · Examples

1我認識know一位會說德文can speak German的who / that英文老師English teacher。

I know an English teacher who can speak German.

界 · Boundary

的 (attributive)

Same linker, heavier modifier: plain attributive ties a quality or owner to the noun (紅的書, 我的書); here a whole verb phrase, a clause's worth of action, sits in that slot (會說德文的老師).

得 (degree complement)

的 ties a phrase forward onto a noun (跑得快 is not this); 得 follows a verb and reports how the action turned out (他跑得快). 的 modifies a noun, 得 modifies a verb.

noun before the verb phrase: 英文老師的會說德文 → 會說德文的英文老師

relative word added: 老師誰會說德文 → 會說德文的老師

linker dropped after a verb phrase: 會說德文老師 → 會說德文的老師

English hangs the clause after the noun with who/that/which (the teacher WHO speaks German); Chinese front-loads the whole verb phrase before 的, before the noun, with no relative pronoun.