非得…不可 / 非得【fēiděi…bùkě / fēiděi】

非得, read fēiděi, goes before the verb and says there is no other way: "must", "have to". In its full form a negative closes the sentence – 不可, 不行 or 不成 – so the two negatives make a strong positive: "not doing it won't do".

Insisting

With a person as subject and a want behind it, 非得 means "insist on", often with 要, and often with an edge of annoyance at the other person's stubbornness.

The short form

In speech the closing 不可 is often dropped, and 非得 stands alone before the verb. A question with it asks "do you really have to?".

非…不可 without 得 means the same and leans written; it is a point of its own. 非得 is the everyday spoken form.

Getting it wrong

The 得 is děi, the 得 of "must", never de. And when the closing negative is used, it is a whole word – 不可, 不行, 不成 – never a bare 不.

• × 他非得去不 → 他非得去不可