<p>&quot;我最害怕的&quot; here is like a noun clause. It means &quot;what I fear the most&quot;. Entire sentence means: <strong>What I fear the most</strong> is <strong>not succeeding</strong> (or &quot;unsuccessfulness&quot; but not sure if that is an English word).</p>
<p>As for why it means as such, here is my understanding. Disclaimer: I am not a linguist and I do not work in the education industry.</p>
<p>&quot;的&quot; is the assistive word (particle) that marks an adjective. If not using like this, it could comes as &quot;我最害怕的事情&quot; (the thing/event that I fear the most), omitting &quot;事情&quot; makes it more general, i.e., &quot;what I fear the most&quot; in any scope, not limited to a thing/event.</p>
<p>Another examples: &quot;我怀念的是无话不说&quot; (lyrics of 《我怀念的》, i.e., <em>What I Miss</em>, by Stefanie Sun).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-03T03:43:54.817Z
2023-04-03T03:43:54.817Z
charlesz
<p>What I fear the most is being unsuccessful. = 我最害怕的事情是不成功。= 我最害怕的是不成功。You can omit the NOUN in case it is trivial.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-02T15:16:25.687Z
2023-04-02T15:16:25.687Z
PdotWang
<p>Here, &quot;的&quot; acts both as a &quot;possessive tune/phrase&quot; and &quot;adjective&quot; maker:</p>
<ul>
<li>我最<strong>害怕的</strong> &quot;是&quot; 不成功. - My most <strong>fearful</strong> (thing) &quot;is&quot;  unsuccessful.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-02T15:05:05.370Z
2023-04-02T18:07:10.293Z
2023-04-02T18:07:10.293Z
r13
<p>I wanted to translate a simple sentence which is &quot;what I fear the most is to be unsuccessful&quot;. I check with google translator and realized I made a mistake. The Google translation is 我最害怕的是不成功. I do not understand the role of 的 in the sentence. Can you help me please ?</p>

<translation>
The use of 的 in 我最害怕的是不成功
# The use of 的 in 我最害怕的是不成功

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-04-02)

I wanted to translate a simple sentence which is "what I fear the most is to be unsuccessful". I check with google translator and realized I made a mistake. The Google translation is 我最害怕的是不成功. I do not understand the role of 的 in the sentence. Can you help me please ?

**Tags:** translation


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-04-03. Score: 1

"我最害怕的" here is like a noun clause. It means "what I fear the most". Entire sentence means: **What I fear the most** is **not succeeding** (or "unsuccessfulness" but not sure if that is an English word).

As for why it means as such, here is my understanding. Disclaimer: I am not a linguist and I do not work in the education industry.

"的" is the assistive word (particle) that marks an adjective. If not using like this, it could comes as "我最害怕的事情" (the thing/event that I fear the most), omitting "事情" makes it more general, i.e., "what I fear the most" in any scope, not limited to a thing/event.

Another examples: "我怀念的是无话不说" (lyrics of 《我怀念的》, i.e., *What I Miss*, by Stefanie Sun).


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### Answer by username_2 on 2023-04-02. Score: 0

What I fear the most is being unsuccessful. = 我最害怕的事情是不成功。= 我最害怕的是不成功。You can omit the NOUN in case it is trivial.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2023-04-02. Score: 0

Here, "的" acts both as a "possessive tune/phrase" and "adjective" maker:

* 我最**害怕的** "是" 不成功. - My most **fearful** (thing) "is" unsuccessful.


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