Difference between revisions of "Verbs that take double objects"

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* 老师,我 可以 <em>问</em> <strong>你</strong> 一 个 <strong>问题</strong> 吗?<span class="pinyin">Lǎoshī, wǒ  kěyǐ <em>wèn</em> <strong>nǐ</strong> yī gè <strong>wèntí</strong> ma?</span><span class="trans">Teacher, may I ask you a question?</span>
 
* 老师,我 可以 <em>问</em> <strong>你</strong> 一 个 <strong>问题</strong> 吗?<span class="pinyin">Lǎoshī, wǒ  kěyǐ <em>wèn</em> <strong>nǐ</strong> yī gè <strong>wèntí</strong> ma?</span><span class="trans">Teacher, may I ask you a question?</span>
* 大家 都 <em>叫</em> <strong>他</strong> <strong>“怪叔叔”</strong>。 <span class="pinyin">Dàjiā dōu <em>jiào</em> <strong> tā</strong> <strong>"guài shūshu."</strong></span><span class="trans">Everyone calls him "Strange Uncle."</span>
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* 大家 都 <em>叫</em> <strong>他</strong> <strong>“怪叔叔”</strong>。 <span class="pinyin">Dàjiā dōu <em>jiào</em> <strong> tā</strong> <strong>"guài shūshu."</strong></span><span class="trans">Everyone calls him "Uncle Weirdo."</span>
 
* 我 想 <em>告诉</em> <strong> 你</strong> 一 个 好 <strong>消息</strong> 。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ xiǎng <em>gàosu</em> <strong> nǐ</strong> yī gè hǎo <strong>xiāoxi</strong>.</span><span class="trans">I want to tell you the good news.</span>
 
* 我 想 <em>告诉</em> <strong> 你</strong> 一 个 好 <strong>消息</strong> 。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ xiǎng <em>gàosu</em> <strong> nǐ</strong> yī gè hǎo <strong>xiāoxi</strong>.</span><span class="trans">I want to tell you the good news.</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>duōshao 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>duōshao qián</strong>?</span><span class="trans">How much money did they give you?</span>

Revision as of 08:20, 15 June 2017

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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. A typical 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 wèntí ma?Teacher, may I ask you a question?
  • 大家 都 “怪叔叔”Dàjiā dōu jiào "guài shūshu."Everyone calls him "Uncle Weirdo."
  • 我 想 告诉 一 个 好 消息Wǒ xiǎng gàosu yī gè hǎo xiāoxi.I want to tell you the good news.
  • 他们 多少 钱Tāmen gěi le duōshao qián?How much money did they give you?
  • 女朋友 很 多 sòng le nǚpéngyou hěn duō huā.He gave his girlfriend lots of flowers.
  • 我 想 送给 一 本 Wǒ xiǎng sòng gěi yī běn shū.I want to give you a book.
  • 爸爸 要 送给 一 个 很 贵 的 生日 礼物Bàba yào sòng gěi yī gè hěn guì de shēngrì lǐwù.My dad is going to give me a very expensive birthday gift.
  • 你 可以 两 千 块 钱 吗?Nǐ kěyǐ jiè liǎng qiān kuài qián ma?Can you lend me 2000 kuai?
  • 老板 刚 发给 上个月 的 工资Lǎobǎn gāng fā gěi shàng gè yuè de gōngzī.The boss just gave me my pay for last month.
  • 这 个 人 很 多 Zhège rén piàn le hěn duō qián.This person cheated me out of a lot of money.

Sources and further reading

Websites

Books