Extremely: 了不得 and 不得了

[Altair]

What exactly is the difference between 了不得 liao3 bu de and 不得了 bu4 de liao3? They both seem to mean "extremely," but are used with different types of words.

I have read that 了不得 cannot be used with negative things and so that one cannot say something like **悲观得不得了 bei1 guan1 de bu4 de liao (extremely pessimistic). Is this true?

Can 不得了 be used with any word or must it be used only with positive things?

[eastt]

Essentially there is no serious difference between 了不得 and 不得了. In fact they are informal expressions like slang. 不得了is more popular than 了不得, and the reason why the latter is known to the public is that Mr. Mao and Mr. Deng preferred to used it in speeches due to their dialects (they both from southwest part of China) when they ruled this country.

And because these two leaders tended to use 了不得 to describe something excellent, so now it definitely implies positive meaning. As for 不得了, you can freely use it with negative things, e.g. 悲观得不得了.

[xiaoxiajenny]

了不得 这个人的功夫了不得 （厉害）。

不得了 天气热得不得了。他今天高兴得不得了，因为他妈妈来看他了。

[RobinChase]

开心得不得了，伤心得不得了，多得不得了，坏得不得了，好得不得了...they all correct. No "悲观得了不得", that is wrong.

了不得 used in 这个人了不得 means 很厉害。

了不得了你还！means （你确定）你真有那么厉害么？

可了不得了 means 可不好了（有什么大事/坏事/意想不到的事要发生了）

just remember these expressions are enough.

[xiaoxiajenny]

不得了

歌手:陈慧琳

还好我们要求的不只还好

美好的事情还会更好没完没了

OEOOOOEOOO

做得好不管时间多少

过得好不管宇宙大小

活得好一秒钟都重要

OEOOOOO

渴望得不得了满足也不得了

拥抱有多么牢快乐就有多少

燃烧的不得了火花也不得了

有梦想会明了下一次会更好

刚好不表示不可能会更好

永远不相信所谓最好没大不了

OEOOOOEOOO