Difference between revisions of "Separable verb"

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'''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.
 
'''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.
  
=== Common Examples ===
+
== Common Examples and Common Mistakes ==
  
 
'''帮忙 (bāngmáng) to help; to do a favor.''' 帮 is the verb; 忙 is the object, meaning "a favor."
 
'''帮忙 (bāngmáng) to help; to do a favor.''' 帮 is the verb; 忙 is the object, meaning "a favor."
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== Where to put 了, 过, 着 ==
 
== Where to put 了, 过, 着 ==
  
=== Examples ===
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Hint: they go after the verb, ''not'' the object.
  
 
见面  (jiànmiàn)
 
见面  (jiànmiàn)
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== Where to Put Measure Words ==
 
== Where to Put Measure Words ==
  
=== Examples ===
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You guessed it: they go after the verb, ''not'' the object.
  
 
见面 (jiànmiàn)
 
见面 (jiànmiàn)
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[[Verb reduplication|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.''
 
[[Verb reduplication|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 ===
 
  
 
<div class="liju">
 
<div class="liju">

Revision as of 16:56, 27 November 2018

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 They

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." 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 想 见面 Wǒ xiǎng jiànmiàn .
  • 我 想 Wǒ xiǎng jiàn .
  • 我 想 见面the prepositional phrase, literally "with you," comes before the verbWǒ xiǎng gēnjiànmiàn.

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.

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.

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 instance, 见面 (to meet) and 结婚 (to get married) are such examples. 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.

Common Examples and Common Mistakes

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 一个 忙 吗 ?Nǐ kěyǐ bāng 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 结婚the prepositional phrase, literally "with her," comes before the verbWǒ xiǎng gēnjiéhūn.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 女生 。Tā hěn xǐhuan liáotiān nǚshēng.He loves talking about girls.
  • 他 很 喜欢 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 他 的 工作 。Bàba bù xǐhuan liáo tā de gōngzuò.My father doesn't like to talk about his work.

Where to put 了, 过, 着

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

见面 (jiànmiàn)

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

开会 (kāihuì)

  • 我们 早上 Wǒmen zǎoshang kāi le huì.We had a meeting this morning.
  • 你们 了 吗 ?Nǐmen kāi guo huì le ma?Have you had the meeting yet?
  • 我们 正 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 Tā zuótiān lái wǒ jiā le, hái chī le fàn.He came to my house yesterday and he ate a meal with us.
  • 了 吗 ?chī guo fàn le ma?Has he eaten yet?
  • 他 正 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

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

见面 (jiànmiàn)

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

吃饭 (chīfàn)

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

睡觉 (shuìjiào)

  • 晚安! 好 觉Wǎn'ān! Shuì hǎo jiào.Good night! I hope you can have some good sleep.
  • 昨晚 我 只 两 个 小时 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.

  • jiànjian miàn
  • chīchi fàn
  • liáoliao tiān
  • 吃饭饭 is the object; it should not be repeated.)chī fàn chīfàn
  • 聊天天 is the object; it should not be repeated.liáo tiān liáotiān

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

  • 见面 一下jiànmiàn 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