In ...真的..., what is the role of 的?

[marti]

Hello! I am a beginner here, so sorry if the question is dumb.

真的被盗了

真的很感动

春天真的到来了

我真的不知道

These are some random examples I pulled up, the last one being strangely appropriate.

I don't think 的 here is marking possession or attributes because what follows is a predicate. I don't think it can be a substitute form of 地 either, since 真 can be an adverb, according to the dictionaries I look it up in(地 is used to change adjectives to adverbs, not if they're already adverbs, right?). I was prepared to accept the pair a single word, but it is not apparently. There is also the modal particle 的, but this goes on the end of the sentence. My best theory is that it actually dí, meaning truly, but I don't think it is pronounced that way. Right now, my brain has simply filed it away as an exception, but it still kind of bugs me.

[Michael H]

The 的 in 真的 is pronounced de (neutral tone). It might be more logical to write 地 here instead of 的. I'm not sure why this is spelled the way it is. Maybe someone more expert can clarify this point.

 

But, coming from English, I don't expect spelling to always be perfectly logical. For a beginner, I would recommend that you learn 真的 as a single word, without worrying about the logic of it too much. The same goes for many other words built out of two or more characters.

[boctulus]

Welcome!

 

Michael H is right, in fact 真的 [zhēnde] is a word and means "really", "indeed"  

[Hofmann]

I can only explain it as an exception. Based on other adverbs, you'd think it should be 真地, but it isn't.

[yosondysh]

The interesting thing is that in Taiwan we no longer use "地"; instead we use "的" in whatever situation. I am not sure if this rule is still mandatory in mainland China.

I believe in some old writings (maybe decades ago) "真地" was actually used.

[vellocet]

Your problem is that you are breaking the sentence down to individual characters and trying to translate to English.  This is a common beginner problem.  Instead of looking at characters, instead train yourself to read words. 

[lips]

To me 真的，假的，红的，黑的，大的，小的，滿的，差不多的，差不多滿的 are all based on the same logic if you break them up.

[Insideoutjoy]

的 is used with other characters to form an adjective.

[Guest realmayo]

Edit: Actually I think what I just wrote is all nonsense. Please ignore!

 

 

If you say that 真，假，红，黑，大，小，滿 etc are all verbs describing a state, i.e. they are all stative verbs: then am I right to say that the 的 functions the same way it does with other verbs?

As in 我买的书。 他很红的脸。真的假的?

 

So 我真的想去, the 真的 is technically modifying 我 rather than 想??

As in: 她脸红的回答：“......”

 

(Just guessing)

 

But then would it be 他大声的说 or 他大声地说  ?

[yueni]

@realmayo

 

It's 他大声地说, if 说 here acts as a verb.

 

The three de's are as follows

 

的  (if not used as a word pair like 真的) is always followed after by a noun.

 

地 is always followed after by a verb.

 

得 is always followed after by an adjective.

 

 

 

@marti

 

The parsing of those sentences is: 

 

真的 / 被盗了 
真的 / 很感动
春天 / 真的 / 到来了
我 / 真的 / 不知道

 

Don't split up 真 and 的, they are effectively a functional pair. Just like ”的确“ is a functional pair, and doesn't mean anything, or means something different, when broken up.

[Hofmann]

After looking at 國語辭典, I think the 的 in 真的 may actually be the 的 in 的確, which means "real." That is, 真的 is actually a disyllabic adverb, that is pronounced zhēnde instead of zhēndí because a neutral tone is applied.

 

Edit: but then I should find 真的 as a word in the dictionary, and it isn't.

[boctulus]

@Hofmann

 

真 [zhēn] is "true" and 真的 [zhēnde] means "truly", "really" or "indeed" a word as you said

[lingo-ling]

(quoted from yosondysh) The interesting thing is that in Taiwan we no longer use "地"; instead we use "的" in whatever situation. I am not sure if this rule is still mandatory in mainland China.

Is it that they officially no longer teach people to use "地", or have just gotten lazy about it?

 

I see a lot of people in Taiwan using "的" when "地" should be used, and when I ask about it, they say that yes, it should be "地". Sometimes they say it doesn't really matter. I tell them that my Chinese professor would have put a big red mark on my homework for committing that error!

 

That said, I have never seen "真地", and have always considered "真的" to be one unit.

[RKNChinese]

OK, I know this is unlikely, but couldn't the 的 have originally been a modal particle (as in 真的？= really? to indicate that the speaker is certain about their statement) and then maybe in this special case the 的 had to go after 真 instead of at the end of the sentence (maybe there are other examples of this in Chinese, I don't know)? I guess there's also the possibility it sounds nicer as well (like adding 儿 to words in Beijing). I don't know, I'm making a guess, so feel free to ridicule me!

[Hofmann]

boctulus,

If you mean that you found 真的 in a dictionary, I'd like to know which one.