的 after a verb

[gbmmpe]

I'm reading my first Mandarin companion level 2 book. Even on the very first page, the grammar feels like it has stepped up a level.

 

So the sentence

 

Quote

这是我刚找到的一本地质学的书！

 

Is stressing me out. What is the function of 的 after a the verb 找到? I've never seen 的 after a verb like this and searching Google doesn't help.

 

Any explanation is welcome.

 

Thanks in advance.

[陳德聰]

Stress not, dear learner.

 

The function of the 的 after that verb is to turn that verb phrase into an attributive of the following noun.

 

What sort of “一本地質學的書” (geology book) is it? It’s a “我剛剛找到“ sort of geology book. The 的 is needed to tie “I just found” to the noun as a description of the book.

 

So you end up with:

 

”This is a geology book that I just found.”

 

But literally:

 

”This is an I-just-found-it geology book.”

[Beelzebro]

To add to the excellent explanation above, if you'd like more examples, see here. And there are explanations for other uses of 的 here. I'm not sure what level you're at so it may or may not be premature to learn all of them, if you're at HSK3 or below then just focus on the first four articles from that list.

[roddy]

15 hours ago, gbmmpe said:

Is stressing me out

Welcome to the Chinese-learning relaxation spa. We have ways of making you comfortable.

[truicon]

I am not sure if this is the same use of 的 but what's the use of 的 here in the sentence below?

When we say ‘You arrived early.’ 你 到的 很早。 What’s the use of  的 here? Also it’s not 得. It’s 的, isn’t it?

Then if I want to say ‘You woke up early.’ Is it 你 起的 很早 as well, or  你 起得 很早? Thank you in advance!

[truicon]

Got the answer to my own question. It should be 得 not 的, right? No wonder I couldn't find the answer when I searched the use of 的. 

[stapler]

Quote

It should be 得 not 的, right?

 

Yep. But I think it's also important to note that the 的 得 地 distinction is a 'modern' convention. As such older texts will sometimes never make the distinction and use 的 for everything. While your contemporary Mandarin teacher might mark you wrong for using 的 instead of 得 and 地, this was acceptable in recent history and so I think should not be dismissed as an outright error.

[truicon]

Oh thank you! I didn't know. It must be why Glossika used 的 for 到的 很早。Thanks for the explanation!

[mungouk]

If you can access youtube there's an accessible explanation of 的 － 得 － 地 on there by Chinesepod (from the Fiona and Constance days).

See also Chinese Grammar Wiki on grammar points of 的 and of 得.  If you're still a beginner just look at the ones labelled A1-A2 for now.

[truicon]

Thank you! I am quite familiar with the three de's and their usages. And I actually checked Chinese Grammar Wiki for ALL the entries of 的 and 得 before posting this question. At that time I was certain that  到的 很早 was the correct way to write this because it was written like that in Glossika. That's why I was asking about the usage of 的 in the mentioned sentence and hijacked this thread. I never knew 的 得 地 distinction is a 'modern' convention, like stapler said. ☺️