13. DURATIONAL

(–le 了) + durational complement + (le 了) Stating how long the object has been being dealt with as a result of the action or how long one anticipates it will be being dealt with.

  1. Tāmen bǎ zhèi ge wèntí yánjiū-le wǔ nián duō.
    他们把这个问题研究了五年多。
    They studied this problem for over five years.


  2. Wǒ yǐjīng bǎ ròu kǎo-le wǔ fēnzhōng le. Zài kǎo jiù gāi kǎohú le.
    我已经把肉烤了五分钟了，再烤就该煳了。
    I have grilled the meat for five minutes so far. If I continue, I will burn it.


  3. Bǎ shuǐ rè wǔ fēnzhōng.
    把水热五分钟。
    Heat the water for five minutes.


  4. Wǒ bǎ miàntiáo zhǔ-le yì huǐr, ránhòu cái wàng lǐ fàng cài.
    我把面条煮了一会儿，然后才往里放菜。
    I boiled the noodles for a little while before putting vegetables in it.

    Note: Only verbs that imply certain forms of processing, such as shāo 烧 (to heat), kǎo 烤 (to bake/to roast), rè 热 (to heat). zhǔ 煮 (to boil), lěngquè 冷却 (to cool off), can take a durational complement in bǎ sentences. This is why the following example is ungrammatical.
  1. Wǒ bǎ shū kàn-le sān ge xiǎoshí. (Ungrammatical)
    我把书看了三个小时。
    (I read the book for three hours.)

    If the speaker intends to state how long the action kàn 看‘reading ' lasted, the bǎ construction should not be used.


  2. Wǒ kàn shū kàn-le sān gè xiǎoshí. (Grammatical)
    我看书看了三个小时。
    I read the book for three hours.