Difference between revisions of "Verbs that take double objects"

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* <em>问</em> <strong>老师</strong> 一 个 <strong>问题</strong><span class="pinyin"><em>wèn</em> le <strong>lǎoshī</strong> yī gè <strong>wèntí</strong>.</span> <span class="trans">I asked the teacher a question.</span>
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* 老师,我 可以 <em>问</em> <strong></strong> 一 个 <strong>问题</strong>�吗?<span class="pinyin">Lǎoshī, wǒ  kěyǐ <em>wèn</em><strong></strong> yī gè <strong>wèntí</strong>ma?</span> <span class="trans">Teacher, may I ask you a question?</span>
 
* 他们 <em>给</em> 了 <strong>你</strong> <strong>多少 钱</strong>?<span class="pinyin">Tāmen <em>gěi</em> le <strong>nǐ</strong> <strong>duōshǎo qián</strong>?</span> <span class="trans">How much money did they give you?</span>
 
* 他们 <em>给</em> 了 <strong>你</strong> <strong>多少 钱</strong>?<span class="pinyin">Tāmen <em>gěi</em> le <strong>nǐ</strong> <strong>duōshǎo qián</strong>?</span> <span class="trans">How much money did they give you?</span>
 
* 他 <em>送</em> 了 <strong>他 女朋友</strong> 很 多 <strong>花</strong>。 <span class="pinyin">Tā <em>sòng</em> le <strong>tā</strong> hěn duō <strong>huā</strong>.</span> <span class="trans">He gave his girlfriends lots of flowers.</span>
 
* 他 <em>送</em> 了 <strong>他 女朋友</strong> 很 多 <strong>花</strong>。 <span class="pinyin">Tā <em>sòng</em> le <strong>tā</strong> hěn duō <strong>huā</strong>.</span> <span class="trans">He gave his girlfriends lots of flowers.</span>

Revision as of 07:48, 15 October 2015

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There are some common verbs in Chinese that can take two objects. In this article, we will look at how they are used.

Structure

As in English, some verbs in Chinese take two objects (these are known as "ditransitive" verbs). The classic example for English is "to bake someone a cake," and there are countless more. The structure in Chinese is:

Subj. + Verb + [Indirect Obj.] + [Direct Obj.]

If you don't know what direct and indirect objects are, don't worry - the terms can be thought of as "object 1" and "object 2." The main point is that there are two of them. A simple way to think about it is that the direct object is the thing that the action happens to (e.g. the cake that gets baked) while the indirect object is the recipient of the direct object (e.g. the person the cake is given to).

Examples

  • 老师,我 可以 一 个 问题�吗?Lǎoshī, wǒ kěyǐ wèn yī gè wèntíma? Teacher, may I ask you a question?
  • 他们 多少 钱Tāmen gěi le duōshǎo qián? How much money did they give you?
  • 他 女朋友 很 多 sòng le hěn duō huā. He gave his girlfriends lots of flowers.
  • 你 可以 借给 两 千 块 钱 吗?Nǐ kěyǐ jiè gěi liǎngqiān kuài qián ma ? Can you lend me 2000 kuai?
  • 爸爸 送给 一 个 很 贵 的 生日礼物Bàba sòng gěi yī gè hěnguì de shēngrì lǐwù. My dad gave me a very expensive birthday gift.
  • 妈妈 寄给 很 多 冬天 的 衣服Māma jì gěi hěn duō dōngtiān de yīfu. Mom sent me a lot of winter clothes .
  • 我 想 告诉 一 个 好 消息Wǒ xiǎng gàosu yī gè hǎo xiāoxi. I want to tell you the good news.
  • 大家 都 “怪叔叔”Dàjiā dōu jiào guàishūshū. Everyone calls him “Strange Uncle”.
  • 老板 刚刚 发给 上个月 的 工资Lǎobǎn gānggāng fā gěi shàng ge yuè de gōngzī. The boss just gave me the salary for last month.
  • 这 个 人 很 多 Zhè ge rén piàn le hěn duō qián. This person cheated me out of a lot of money.

Sources and further reading

Books