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 They Are

Purely from the "separable" aspect, Mandarin's separable verbs have a counterpart in English: phrasal verbs (also called two-word verbs). While the grammatical components of English's phrasal verbs are different, the "separable" quality works in a very similar way. Take the phrasal verb "check out" for example:

  • Check out my new computer.
  • Check my new computer out.

Do you see what happened there? The verb "check out" can split into two parts (a verb and a preposition), and other words can go in between those two parts. Separable verbs work much the same way in Chinese, except that the two parts are a verb and an object (a noun).

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, literally meaning "face."

  • 我 想 见面 你 。Wǒ xiǎng jiànmiàn nǐ.
  • 我 想 见 你 。Wǒ xiǎng jiànnǐ.
  • 我 想 跟 你 见面 。the prepositional phrase, literally "with you," comes before the verbWǒ xiǎng gēn nǐ jiànmiàn.

Perhaps the most common examples of separable verbs that beginners struggle with are 见面 and 睡觉. For a more complete list, 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.

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 verbs, even in very basic sentences.

Basic Usage

First, you need to understand the structure of separable verbs. Most separable verbs are a "Verb + Object" (the object is a noun) construct. One might wonder, then, why there needs to be a separate category called "separable verbs" instead of just thinking of them as a verb and an object. There are several reasons to think of them as special verbs:

  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 example, 见面 (to meet), and 结婚 (to get married). In these examples, it's just not easy to think of the objects as an object.
  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 a verb. It's from this essential relationship that the following principles flow:

Common Examples

  • 帮忙 (bāngmáng) to help; to do a favor

帮 is the verb; 面 is the object, meaning "a favor."

  • 我 可以 帮忙 你 。Wǒmen dōu 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 this favor (for you).

If you want to ask someone to do you a favor, use this sentence below:

  • 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." You can hear something like "这个婚我不结了", which means "I quit getting married (with someone)", but 婚 cannot be used as a noun very much. So you cannot ask someone "你的婚结了吗?"

  • 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 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 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. That is why you need to put a specific object before 聊 to mean "to talk about something."

  • 爸爸 不 喜欢 聊天 他 的 工作 。Bàba bù xǐhuan liátiān 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.
  • 创业 (chuàngyè) to start up one's business

创 is the verb; 业 is the object.

  • 我 想 创业 自己 的 公司 。Wǒ xiǎng chàungyè zìjǐ de gōngsī.
  • 我 想 创业 。Wǒ xiǎng chàungyè.I want to start up my own business.

If you mean to say "to launch a company" or "to set up your business," use this sentence below:

  • 我 想 开 公司 。Wǒ xiǎng kāi gōngsī.I want to lunch my business.

Where to put 了, 过, 着

Examples

  • 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 guò huì le ma?Have you had the meeting yet?
  • 我们 开 着 会 呢 。Wǒmen 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 guò fàn le ma?Has he eaten yet?
  • 他 吃 着 饭 呢 。Tā 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

Examples

  • 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.When you're available, let's go out for dinner.
  • 老板 请 大家 吃 了 一 顿 饭 。Lǎobǎn qǐng dàjiā chīle yī dùn fàn.The boss invited everyone to dinner.
  • 睡觉 (shuìjiào)
  • 晚安！睡 个 好 觉 。Wǎn'ān!Shuì gè hǎo jiào.Good night! I hope you can have some 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

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.

Examples

  • 见 见 面jiàn jiàn miàn
  • 见面 见面jiànmiàn jiànmiàn
  • 吃 吃 饭chī chī fàn
  • 吃饭吃饭 chīfàn chīfàn饭 is the object; it should not be repeated.)
  • 聊 聊 天liáo liáo tiān
  • 聊 天 聊天sàn bù sànbù 步 is the object; it should not be repeated.)

Note that separable verbs can't used with 一下 to express it happens briefly.

  • 见面 一下jiànmiàn yīxià
  • 散步一下 sànbù yīxià

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

Books

Websites

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