V...不得

[Leikuzi]

there are a few verb phrases such as 恨不得。。。舍不得。。了不得 which seem to have meanings which cannot be understood without a prior knowledge of the whole word, or cannot be known simply by reading the 3 characters together. This question is similar to my previous question . Do you know of commonly used verb phrases like these using ...不得? and is there anything they have in common that allows them to be used in this way? I'm curious because I like these very much and my chinese friends are impressed when I use them.

[Glenn]

Perhaps the entry on Baidu would help?

不得

[jessiejin]

得 is used after a verb to express possibility or capability.and we use 不 ro deny it.

so 不得 means you cannot.but it has different meaning in sifferent situations.

for example

恨不得 我恨不得打你一顿。i hate you very much.but i cannot beat you just for i hate you.then we use it to express how deeply i hate you.

舍不得 means 不得舍——不可以舍 我舍不得把这麽多钱花在穿衣服上。I hesitate to spend so much money on clothes.

我们十分留恋这所房子，真舍不得搬家。We've grown very attached to this house and would hate to move.

粗心不得——不可以粗心 we cannot be careless.

[skylee]

From 長恨歌 -

漢皇重色思傾國，御宇多年求不得。

[Stacie1121]

The uses of V+不得 are different in different situations. Mostly, we use 舍不得，恨不得，怨不得，了不得（不得了），哭笑不得 in our daily life. There are also some words 碰不得，使不得 mostly used in ancient Chinese dramas.(Don't need to use because it makes you sound like an ancient scholars.)

You can use the words above under below situations:

V+不得 1）舍不得+noun. (means have to let sb. go or give something away although you don't want to )

eg: 我舍不得这件衬衫。---> I don't want to give away (or throw away) the T-shirt.

我舍不得你。

我舍不得你走。

我舍不得让你走。---> I don't want you to go.

2) 恨不得+（v. or sentence）(means wish to do something so badly, but may not succeed )【It's used when expressing strong feelings which can be a little negative】

eg: 我恨不得马上离开（走）。 ---> I wish I could leave right now.

我恨不得赶快长大，离开我的父母。---> I wish I could grow up soon so I can get away from my parents.

我恨不得他被汽车压死。 ---> I wish he were run over by a car. 【curse sb.】

3) 怨不得+person (means don't blame sb. for something) 【It's used when A is talking with B about C. It's not C's fault.】

eg: B: 今天我们比赛输了。 B: We lost the game today.

A：这怨不得C,我们状态不好。---> A: It's not C's fault, we were not in our best condition.

4) 了不得 [liǎo bu de]（placed at the end of a sentence）(mainly means 1) sb. is excellent,his or her ability is beyond the average; 2) sb. is cocky 3) terrible, something goes wrong)

eg: Mark可真了不得！才上了几节汉语课，都可以唱中文歌了。---> How brilliant Mark is! He can sing Chinese songs after taking a few Chinese lessons.

eg: Jenny自以为自己了不得。---> Jenny thinks she's somebody.

eg: 可了不得了（=不得了了），一辆警车被示威者烧毁了。 ---> It's terrible that a police car was burnt by some protesters.

【Beside 了不得， 不得了can also mean "very, badly"】

eg: 昨晚爸爸加班了，累得不得了。 ---> My dad worked overtime last night, he is so tired.

eg: 他跑步快得不得了。---> He runs so fast.

eg: 他爱她爱得不得了。---> He loves her so much.

5) 哭笑不得 （the idiom can be used to describe something or sb. both funny and annoying; we emphasize on "funny"）

eg: 一些中国式英语翻译让我哭笑不得。 ---> Some Chinglish translations make me laugh.

eg: 小孩子说大人话的时候总让人哭笑不得。---> When the time children speak like an adult, they sound so funny.