Meaning of 事情并没有想家的那么糟糕

Question

事情并没有想家的那么糟糕。

(1) What is the meaning of this sentence?

(2) In “想家的那么糟糕”, please explain to me the function of 的? I do not understand why 的 turns up in that position.

Answer 1

事情并没有想家的那么糟糕。

The sentence you quote has a typo. It should be:

事情并没有想像的那么糟糕。

想像的 is nominalization, meaning what one thinks of. The whole sentence means things don't go as bad as what we think of.

Answer 2

There's a special function of 的: when it is understood, the word after it can and usually be omitted: 他去买吃的，我买喝的。 "食物"is omitted after first 的, and "饮料"is omitted after second 的。 Extending fully, your sentence should be 事情并没有(你/大家)想像的(样子)那么糟糕。Also,没有 here is not properly used as it is total negative (doesn't exist), better use 不如。 But this is modern language: 1 People getting lazier and lazier and sentences/words are getting shorter and shorter. 2 Precision of using word is not a trend any more, especially with young generation, and getting worse. Can't help it. It's the modern world. Languages are mutating non stop.