HSK 7-9
免得
miǎnde
So as to avoid; lest
Structure
Action/Situation + 免得 + Unwanted Result
How it works
The conjunction '免得' is used to introduce a clause that describes an undesirable outcome the speaker wishes to prevent. It is typically used in the second part of a sentence to explain the purpose of the action taken in the first part.
Examples
我们还是早点出发吧，免得路上堵车。
Wǒmen háishì zǎodiǎn chūfā ba, miǎnde lùshang dǔchē.
We should set off a bit earlier to avoid getting stuck in traffic.
请把这些资料备份一下，免得丢失。
Qǐng bǎ zhèxiē zīliào bèifèn yíxià, miǎnde diūshī.
Please back up these documents so as not to lose them.
有话当面说清楚，免得产生误会。
Yǒu huà dāngmiàn shuō qīngchu, miǎnde chǎnshēng wùhuì.
Speak clearly face-to-face to avoid any misunderstandings.
Common mistakes
Users often redundantly add negative words like '不' after '免得', but since '免得' already implies prevention, additional negation is usually unnecessary.
Tip
Think of '免得' as 'so that [something bad] doesn't happen.' It is very similar to '以免' (yǐmiǎn), but '免得' is slightly more common in spoken Chinese.
More HSK 7-9 grammar
See 免得 in real Chinese
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