不得了 (bù dé liǎo) — disastrous, terrible, awful (used to describe a serious situation); extremely, incredibly (used as a complement after 得 to intensify an adjective or verb)
Definition
不得了 has two uses: as a complement after 得 to mean 'extremely, incredibly' (stronger than 极为), and as an adjective meaning 'disastrous, awful' for serious situations. It is more about shock/severity than personal fear, unlike 可怕.
adjective
disastrousterribleawful (used to describe a serious situation)extremelyincredibly (used as a complement after 得 to intensify an adjective or verb)
Examples
- 不得了，！bù dé liǎo Le, chē zi zhuàng huài le!Oh no, the car is crashed!
- ，不得了。Tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi, tā kāi xīn dé bù dé liǎo.Hearing this news, he was incredibly happy.
- 不得了，。Zhè jiān wū zi zāng dé bù dé liǎo, xū yào hǎo hǎo dǎ sǎo.This room is extremely dirty and needs a good cleaning.
Grammar
Appears in
Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.