Chinese word

得了

Pronunciation

Pinyindé le

Meaning

  • verbcatch

Example

去年他得了流感，很难受。qù nián tā dé le liú gǎn hěn nán shòu

Last year he caught the flu and felt awful.

Illustration for 得了 (catch)

More examples

孩子前天得了感冒，今天没去学校。hái zi qián tiān dé le gǎn mào jīn tiān méi qù xué xiào

The child caught a cold the day before yesterday and did not go to school today.

Core concept

An illness takes hold of a person and becomes a present condition.

Common phrases

  • 得了感冒dé le gǎn mào

    catch a cold

  • 得了流感dé le liú gǎn

    catch the flu

  • 得了重病dé le zhòng bìng

    catch a serious illness

Similar words

得病dé bìng: To contract or develop an illness or disease.
生病shēng bìng: To fall ill as the body's health becomes poor.
感冒gǎn mào: To get a cold.

Definition in Chinese

用来表示某人感染或患病，强调发生与结果的状态。yòng lái biǎo shì mǒu rén gán rǎn huò huàn bìng qiáng diào fā shēng yǔ jié guǒ de zhuàng tài

Word origin

得 (dé, "come to have") + 了 (le, "newly established state") presents illness as something that has become part of the person's present condition.

Usage tips

  • English catch often suggests a short illness, but 得了 (déle, "catch or suffer from") also applies to long-term conditions such as diabetes or cancer.

Other meanings

  • suffer fromverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word