累得要死, 困得不行, 冷得要命: unbearably, to death
【高86】补语 / complements
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
Adj / V + 得 + 不行 / 要命 / 要死 pushes a state or a feeling to the extreme: 累得要死 ("dead tired"), 困得不行 ("so sleepy I can't stand it"). These are spoken degree complements, of the same family as 极了, 死了, 得很 and 得不得了 (HSK 3).
得不行 is the most general: it goes with joy as well as with pain (兴奋得不行, 饿得不行). 得要命 and 得要死 are stronger and mostly describe unpleasant states (疼得要命, 忙得要死, 冷得要命), though people also use them jokingly for an excess of pleasure (好吃得要命).
The complement comes right after the adjective or verb, linked by 得, with no degree adverb in front: it already says "extreme", so no 很 (✗ 很累得要死). It follows an adjective (累, 冷, 贵) or a verb of feeling (想, 怕, 担心); with an object, the verb is repeated: 想你想得不行. Careful: after an activity verb such as 唱, 写 or 做, 得不行 is a judgement ("hopeless"): 他唱得不行 means "he sings very badly". The degree sense stays with adjectives and verbs of feeling or reaction (高兴得不行, 想得不行, 笑得不行).
Register: informal. In writing, prefer 非常 or 极其.
Examples
我昨晚只睡了三个小时，现在困得不行。
Wǒ zuówǎn zhǐ shuì le sān ge xiǎoshí, xiànzài kùn de bùxíng.I only slept three hours last night and I'm half asleep now.
儿子一听说要去动物园，就兴奋得不行。
Érzi yì tīngshuō yào qù dòngwùyuán, jiù xīngfèn de bùxíng.As soon as my son heard we were going to the zoo, he was beside himself with excitement.
最近项目太多，我每天忙得要死。
Zuìjìn xiàngmù tài duō, wǒ měi tiān máng de yàosǐ.There are so many projects lately that I'm run off my feet every day.
他人不高，脾气却大得要命。
Tā rén bù gāo, píqi què dà de yàomìng.He's not tall, but he has a terrible temper.
他女儿在国外读书，他想她想得不行，天天打视频电话。
Tā nǚér zài guówài dúshū, tā xiǎng tā xiǎng de bùxíng, tiāntiān dǎ shìpín diànhuà.His daughter studies abroad, he misses her like mad and video-calls her every day.
这家火锅辣得要命，我才吃一口就满头大汗。
Zhè jiā huǒguō là de yàomìng, wǒ cái chī yì kǒu jiù mǎn tóu dà hàn.The hotpot here is blazing hot: one mouthful and I was drenched in sweat.
Common mistakes
✗ 我很累得要死。 → ✓ 我累得要死。 (no degree adverb in front: the complement already says "extreme").
✗ 他饿要命。 → ✓ 他饿得要命。 (the 得 is required).
✗ 他唱得不行 meant as "he sings like crazy" → it means "he sings very badly": after an activity verb such as 唱, 不行 judges the result; for a degree, take an adjective or a verb of feeling (他高兴得不行).