Why is 得 in 你还记得我吗?

Question

I have read the sentence:

你还记得我吗？

But I can’t understand the meaning of 得, here. I don’t think it belongs to the rules explained here

Answer 1

In the example sentence you give, 得 is just part of the word 记得 (= to remember).

你还记得我吗？

Do you still remember me?

Answer 2

Very briefly, you should be aware that one additional meaning of 得 (de2) is to obtain.

Examples of this usage include 得到 and 获得.

In this particular instance, I think of 记得 as being 记 + 得, where the 记 means memory, 得 means to obtain, and put together we have: to obtain a memory. Thus, 记得 means to remember.

Answer 3

记得 as a whole:

First I take back my comment saying 记得 is one word, but I keep the part that it should be understood as a whole.

记得 is a 离合词 (cleft word, a.k.a. separable word). Most, if not all, cleft words do appear in dictionary as a word, however in grammar, whether they're words or phrases is still being debated by the professionals. No wonder there's a lot of confusion across the answers and comments.

There are different types of cleft words. 记得 falls into the type 'verb+result', where

• 记 (to memorize; to remember) is the 'action verb'.
• 得 (to obtain; 'can remember' in this context) is the 'stative verb as resultative complement'.

Words with the same structure include: 看见, 听懂, 叫醒, etc.

Words with the same structure AND the 'result' word is also '得' include: 认得, 晓得, etc.

As a result, 得 in 记得 has the same meaning as in 得到, which is 'to obtain', although the syntactic roles are very different (in 得到, '得' is the action verb and '到' is the resultative complement). You're right that this usage is not listed in the link you have in the question.

Since we've touched the subject of cleft words, let's explore more about them:

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记得得/记不得/记不记得/记得不记得:

As a 'verb+result' cleft word, 记 and 得 can be infix-ed by a resultative particle to affirm/negate the result, or construct an interrogative pattern. Which means,

• verb+得+result = affirmative pattern: 看得见, 记得得 (the first 得 is the resultative particle and should be pronounced with neutral tone.)
• verb+不+result = negative pattern: 看不见, 记不得
• verb+不/没+verb+result = interrogative pattern: 看没看见, 记不记得

'记得得' is grammatical, but seldom used due to the pronunciation difficulty caused by the repetition of '得'.

Besides these patterns specific to cleft words, they can also apply the common verb pattern of 'word+不/没+word' for interrogative pattern. The meaning is exactly the same as #3 above.

• word+不/没+word: 看见没看见, 记得不记得

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记不得 vs. 不记得:

There is a common confusion between them and some people misuse them as if 记不得 means 'I used to remember but now forgot'; 不记得 means 'I tried to remember but never succeeded'.

Generally, 'verb+不/没+result' means 'cannot do' and '不/没+verb+result' means 'do not do', for example,

• 看不见 = cannot see (maybe blocked by something)
• 没看见 = didn't see/haven't seen

However when it comes to 记得, although logically 记不得 means 'I don't have the ability to remember' and 不记得 means 'It's not in my memory', in practice they are both used for the same meaning of 'I don't remember' and are interchangeable. 记不得 is never used to describe someone's poor memorizing ability and you need some other expression for that.

Having said that, there is a difference in the usage, which is in geographical popularity. People from Northern China are more accustomed to say 不记得, while people from Southern China are okay to say both.

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得 as in 记得住:

记住 is also a 'verb+result' cleft word. 记得住 is 记住 infix-ed with affirmative particle 得 (pattern 'verb+得+result' for affirmation). Similar examples include 看得见, 跑得快, etc. 记 and 得 happen to be neighbors in this phrase, but it has nothing to do with the cleft word 记得.

Answer 4

I check the link OP used. It is very close, or actually answered the question.

It is in the B1 category. The site contains many specific long examples, but none with the exact format OP is looking for.

It is very difficult to "explain" or give a translation to 得. I will try to give a list of example (specific to this usage/format) and hope OP can get a "feel" of it.

用得 Can use
打得 Can fight
记得 Can remember
读得 Can read
写得 Can write
跑得 Can run

得 in the above usage/combination gives a "sense" of positive/confirmation.

I hope this helps and not being too confusing.

Answer 5

得 has many meanings, and one of them is

可以、能够: can, able to

1. 不得抽烟: cannot smoke (here)
2. 得饶人处且饶人: (if) can forgive another person (for the circumstances), then forgive

so 记得(我) has the meaning of "able to remember" or "can remember" (me).

你还记得我吗？ has the meaning of "you still can remember me?"