Adjectival Complement “de bùdéliǎo”
得不得了
How it works
得不得了 (de bùdéliǎo) is a strong degree complement used after adjectives. It means “extremely,” “terribly,” “very, very...” and is often stronger than 很 (hěn), 非常 (fēicháng), or even 极了 (jí le) in spoken feeling.
It is commonly used when the speaker wants to express a very strong feeling, impression, or reaction. It often appears with adjectives describing:
physical feelings
emotional states
degree of quality
strength of reaction
The pattern
Example sentences
这几天热得不得了。
It has been terribly hot these past few days.
他知道这个消息以后，高兴得不得了。
After hearing the news, he was extremely happy.
这条路堵得不得了，我们走了两个小时才到。
The road was terribly crowded, and we only arrived after two hours.
Key point
得不得了 (de bùdéliǎo) is often emotional and vivid. It is most natural in spoken or lively written Chinese. Compared with 极了 (jí le), it often sounds a little more expressive and dramatic.