City University of Hong Kong CLASS CLASS
Making Sense of Grammar
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asked Feb 2, 2021 in Questions about Chinese Grammar by Ariel (34,480 points) | 530 views

Very informative post, thank you very much!

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Some verbs can take two objects: one is the direct object and the other, the indirect object. The indirect object, which is usually a person, immediately follows the verb. The direct object, which is usually a non-person, follows the indirect object.

Such verbs in Chinese are limited and the most common ones are: 给 (gěi: ‘to give’), 送 (sòng:‘to give something as a gift’), 借 ( jiè: ‘to lend’), 还 (huán: ‘to return something’), 教 (jiāo:‘to teach’), 问 (wèn: ‘to ask questions’), 告诉 (gàosù: ‘to tell information’), 通知 (tōng zhī:‘to notify’).

上星期我借小王三本词典,这星期他还我一本。

Shàng xīng qī wǒ jiè xiǎo wáng sān běn cí diǎn,zhè xīng qī tā hái wǒ yī běn。

Last week I lent Xiao Wang three dictionaries; this week, he returned one to me.

(小王 and 我 are the indirect objects.)

王老师教我们语法,他每天都问我们很多问题。

Wáng lǎo shī jiāo wǒ men yǔ fǎ,tā měi tiān dōu wèn wǒ men hěn duō wèn tí。

Teacher Wang teaches us grammar; every day, he asks us many questions.

(我们 is the indirect object.)

[1] Yip, P. C., Rimmington, D., Xiaoming, Z., & Henson, R. (2009). Basic Chinese: a grammar and workbook. Taylor & Francis.

[2] Teng, W. H. (2016). Yufa! A practical guide to Mandarin Chinese grammar. Taylor & Francis.

answered Feb 2, 2021 by Ariel (34,480 points)

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1,614 questions
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