Separable verb

Also known as: 离合词 (líhécí) and verb-object phrase.

"Separable verbs" get their name from their ability to "separate" into two parts (a verb part and an object part), with other words in between. In fact, you could also simply call separable verbs "verb-object phrases."

What Are Separable Verbs?

Separable verbs are "verb-object phrases." They consist of two characters: the first is the verb, and the second is the object. Very often, these two will appear together, seemingly acting as a single verb, as in 吃饭, "to eat," 见面, "to meet," or 睡觉, "to sleep." But the two can also separate, and the verb can also be used without the object.

Let's look at a typical example in Chinese, using the verb 见面, meaning "to meet." 见 is the verb; 面 is the object, which literally means "face," but is never translated as such. The mistake everyone makes is to put an object after 见面. You can't do this, though, because 见面 already has its own object.

  • 我 没有 时间 见面 。It may seem like it has no object, but 面 is the object.Wǒ méiyǒu shíjiān jiànmiàn.I don't have time to meet.
  • 我 没有 时间 见 你 。Here, 见 is the verb and 你 is the objectWǒ méiyǒu shíjiān jiàn nǐ.I don't have time to meet you.
  • 我 没有 时间 见面 你 。面 is the object, so adding 你 after it is wrongWǒ méiyǒu shíjiān jiànmiàn nǐ.

The key features of separable verbs are:

  1. Many separable verbs can't be easily translated into other languages in a way that makes both the verb and the object part clear. For instance, 见面 ("to meet"), 睡觉 ("to sleep"), and 游泳 ("to swim") are such examples. In these examples, it's just not easy to think of the objects as a separate word.
  2. The relationship between the verb and the object in a separable verb pair is very close; adding the object to the verb is sort of the "default form" of the verb, even if the verb part can be used without the object.
  3. Separable verbs are a source of frequent errors from learners of Chinese. No matter how you think of them, it's good to give these "words" or "phrases" extra attention to make your Chinese more natural.

The key to using separable verbs correctly is to remember that they are "Verb + Object" constructs. The verb alone must be treated as a verb, and the object cannot be treated as part of the verb.

How to Use Separable Verbs

Perhaps the most common examples of separable verbs that beginners struggle with are 见面 and 睡觉. What makes them especially hard is that the "object" part of each word seem to have no counterpart in English. "Meet face?" "Sleep a sleep?" It all feels very odd. For a more complete list of separable verbs, see the list of separable verbs.

Below we will introduce separable verbs in more detail, provide more examples, and also offer more specific cases of where separable verbs can get tricky.

Where to put 了, 过, 着 with Separable Verbs

Hint: they go after the verb, not the object.

见面 (jiànmiàn)

  • 我们 昨天 见 了 面 。separated, 了 insertedWǒmen zuótiān jiàn le miàn.We've met yesterday.
  • 我们 见 过 面 。separated, 过 insertedWǒmen jiàn guo miàn.We've met.

开会 (kāihuì)

  • 我们 早上 开 了 会 。Wǒmen zǎoshang kāi le huì.We had a meeting this morning.
  • 你们 开 过 会 了 吗 ？Nǐmen kāi guo huì le ma?Have you had the meeting yet?
  • 我们 正 开 着 会 呢 。Wǒmen zhèng kāi zhe huì ne.We're having a meeting right now.

吃饭 (chīfàn)

  • 他 昨天 来 我 家 了 ，还 吃 了 饭 。Tā zuótiān lái wǒ jiā le, hái chī le fàn.He came to my house yesterday and he ate a meal with us.
  • 他 吃 过 饭 了 吗 ？Tā chī guo fàn le ma?Has he eaten yet?
  • 他 正 吃 着 饭 呢 。Tā zhèng chī zhe fàn ne.He's eating a meal right now.

Note: unlike the particles 过 and 着, the particle 了 is especially tricky, and it can also appear after the object. So it can be correct in multiple places.

Where to Put Measure Words with Separable Verbs

You guessed it: they go after the verb, not the object.

见面 (jiànmiàn)

  • 我们 见 个 面 吧 。Wǒmen jiàn gè miàn ba.Let's meet.
  • 我们 见 过 几 次 面。Wǒmen jiàn guo jǐ cì miàn.We've met a few times.

吃饭 (chīfàn)

  • 我们 一起 吃 过 几 次 饭 。Wǒmen yīqǐ chī guo jǐ cì fàn.We've had several meals together.
  • 老板 请 大家 吃 了 一 顿 饭 。Lǎobǎn qǐng dàjiā chī le yī dùn fàn.The boss treated everyone to dinner.

睡觉 (shuìjiào)

  • 晚安！睡 个 好 觉 。Wǎn'ān! Shuì gè hǎo jiào.Good night! I hope you have a good sleep.
  • 昨晚 我 只 睡 了 两 个 小时 觉 。Zuówǎn wǒ zhǐ shuì le liǎng gè xiǎoshí jiào.I only slept two hours last night.

How to Reduplicate Separable Verbs

Reduplication is a way to express the casual nature of a verb or that it happens only briefly. When it comes to separable verbs, only the verb part reduplicates.

  • 见见 面jiànjian miàn
  • 吃吃 饭chīchi fàn
  • 聊聊 天liáoliao tiān
  • 吃 饭 吃饭饭 is the object; it should not be repeated.)chī fàn chīfàn
  • 聊 天 聊天天 is the object; it should not be repeated.liáo tiān liáotiān

Note that you can't put 一下 after separable verbs to express that it happened briefly.

  • 见面 一下jiànmiàn yīxià

Common Examples and Common Mistakes with Separable Verbs

帮忙 (bāngmáng) to help; to do a favor. 帮 is the verb; 忙 is the object, meaning "a favor."

  • 我们 可以 帮忙 你 。Wǒmen kěyǐ bāngmáng nǐ.
  • 我们 可以 帮 你 。Wǒmen kěyǐ bāng nǐ.We can help you.
  • 我们 可以 帮忙 。Wǒmen kěyǐ bāngmáng.We can do (you) this favor.

If you want to ask someone to do you a favor, check this out:

  • 你 可以 帮 我 一个 忙 吗 ？Nǐ kěyǐ bāng wǒ yī gè máng ma?Can you do me a favor?

结婚 (jiéhūn) to get married. 结 is the verb; 婚 acts as the object, meaning "marriage." However, 婚 cannot typically be used as a noun by itself.

  • 我 想 结婚 她 。Wǒ xiǎng jiéhūn tā.
  • 我 想 跟 她 结婚 。the prepositional phrase, literally "with her," comes before the verbWǒ xiǎng gēn tā jiéhūn.I want to get married to her.

聊天 (liáotiān) to chat; to talk (about things in general). 聊 is the verb; 天 acts as the object.

  • 他 很 喜欢 聊天 女生 。Tā hěn xǐhuan liáotiān nǚshēng.
  • 他 很 喜欢 聊 女生 。Tā hěn xǐhuan liáotiān nǚshēng.He loves talking about girls.
  • 他 很 喜欢 跟 女生 聊天 。the prepositional phrase, literally "with you," comes before the verbTā hěn xǐhuan gēn nǚshēng liáotiān.He loves talking with girls.

Literally, 天 doesn't mean anything. The object needs to be something specific if you mean to be clear.

  • 爸爸 不 喜欢 聊天 他 的 工作 。Bàba bù xǐhuan liáotiān tā de gōngzuò.
  • 爸爸 不 喜欢 聊 他 的 工作 。Bàba bù xǐhuan liáo tā de gōngzuò.My father doesn't like to talk about his work.

Why Use Them

If separable verbs are simply verb-object phrases, then why the special name? It's because there are some special features of Chinese verb-object phrases worth special attention, and the name "separable verbs" helps call attention to this. Mastering separable verbs can be a little tricky and is an essential objective of the intermediate (B1) level learner of Chinese.

Separable verbs are just one of those things you can't avoid. Many extremely common verbs, such as "to sleep" (睡觉) or "to meet" (见面) are separable verbs, and until you understand which verbs are separable verbs and how they work, you'll forever be making mistakes with these words, even in very basic sentences. In addition, you will continue to encounter new separable verbs, and being already familiar with the concept makes mastering new words much easier.

Academic debate

There is some debate as to how useful the concept of separable verbs really is. For our purposes, we're only concerned with whether or not separable verbs are a useful concept for the student of Mandarin Chinese. Many learners do, in fact, find the concept to be quite useful in helping them speak more natural Chinese.

Sources and further reading

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