HSK 4 grammar · modal
得
得 — must / have to (necessity)
Pattern
+ +
( ) can be left out · other words may come before, between and after
How it works
The modal 得 (read děi) before a verb says something is necessary or unavoidable — "must", "have to". It is colloquial; its negative is not 不得 but 不用 or 不必 ("need not").
Examples
时间不早了，我得走了。
Shíjiān bù zǎo le, wǒ děi zǒu le.
It's getting late; I have to go.
学好中文得多练习。
Xué hǎo Zhōngwén děi duō liànxí.
To learn Chinese well you have to practice a lot.
明天考试，今晚我得复习。
Míngtiān kǎoshì, jīnwǎn wǒ děi fùxí.
There's a test tomorrow, so tonight I have to review.
Related
See it in a story
In the app, 得 is underlined wherever it appears in the stories you read, and practised with sentences from them. Free.