Level 2 · Elementary
Must: 得 (děi) and 不用
得 (děi) + Verb — 不用 + Verb
得, pronounced děi, means "must / have to" in everyday speech: 我得走了 "I've got to go", 你得多休息 "you have to rest more". Yes, it's the same character as the complement-得 (de) in 说得很好 — the meaning depends on where it sits: before a verb it's děi "must".
The negative is its own word: 不用 (búyòng) "don't need to": 明天不用上课 "no class tomorrow". Never say 不得 for "don't have to" — the opposite of "must" in Chinese is "no need".
Examples
我得走了。
wǒ de zǒu le
I have to go.
你得多休息。
nǐ de duō xiū xi
You have to rest more.
明天不用上课。
明天不用上課。
míng tiān bù yòng shàng kè
We don't have to go to class tomorrow.
你不用给我买礼物。
你不用給我買禮物。
nǐ bù yòng gěi wǒ mǎi lǐ wù
You don't need to buy me a gift.
Common mistakes
✗ 你不得去。
✓ 你不用去。
"Don't have to" is 不用 — 得 (děi) has no direct negative.
Related grammar points
Practice this pattern in graded stories like The Saturday Surprise (Part 1), An Unexpected Discovery (Part 3), The Model Has a Problem (Part 2) inside the Literate Chinese app.
