The Construction

Exercises

Please note: it is important that one should learn and practise resultative and directional complements before starting on the construction.

Other terminology: (verb predicate) sentences/ the use of the preposition (or co-verb) / the use of the pre-transitive / 把字句

1. When can I use sentences?

  • can be used when you want to deal with or to dispose of a particular object.

A verb in the construction changes the form, situation or direction of the object. Verbs in constructions are in complex forms. They are usually verbs of method of action plus other elements.

  • can be used when you want to specify that the result of an action affects a particular object, but not the action itself. This is because some resultative complements have ambiguous references and can refer either to the main verb of the sentence or to the object. For instance:

tā hē wán jiŭ le

了。

HE DRINK FINISH WINE LE

The resultative complement (to complete) can refer either to the object or

to the verb , so the meaning of that sentence can be either "He has drunk up all the wine," (and there is no wine left) or "He has finished drinking (the wine)," (but there is still plenty of wine left). If you use the construction, the meaning is clearer:

HE

bă jiŭ

BAWINE

hēwán le

DRINK FINISH LE

He has drunk up all the wine.

The above example shows that the element (attached to the main verb ) refers to the direct object of the sentence, but not to the main verb.

  • When a sentence has both a direct and an indirect object connected by a verb plus a complement, the construction is used. Let’s compare the following patterns:

Patterns in English

Patterns in Chinese

v. dir.o. indir.o.

dir.o. v. c. indir.o.

...to change sth. INTO sth. else

sth. sth. else

...to cut a cake into 4 pieces.

蛋糕 四块

...to translate English into Chinese

英文 翻译成 汉语

...to take sth. TO swh.

sth. swh. /

...to take the TV to the bedroom

电视 卧室去

...to take sth. TO sb.

sth. sb.

...to deliver a book to Mr. Li

李先生

...to put sth. AT/ IN/ ON/...sth. else

sth. sth. else

...to put the paper on the table

...to post sth. BACK TO swh.

sth. swh.

...to send the money back to China

中国

...to take sth. IN TO swh.

sth. swh .

...to take the book in to the room

房间

As you can see the resultative complements (to become) INTO; (to arrive)

TO [a place]; (to give) TO [a person], (to be) AT, IN, ON, UNDER and the

combined directional complements 回去 / (back) BACK TO can all be used in the above sentences.

2. How can I form a sentence with ?

As you can see from the above examples, the objects which you want to dispose of are placed after , and are followed by the clauses which indicate how you want to dispose of them.

3. What are the commonly used attached verb elements in the construction?

The elements which can be attached to the main verbs in sentences are: (Place the mouse on the following words to view the examples and click on the words to read the explanations.)

  1. Resultative complements (apart from )
  2. Directional complements
  3. (complement of degree) constructions
  4. 一下 (or verb)
  5. Time/action measures
  6. The particle

4. Apart from a subject of a sentence, what other elements can be placed before ?

The following should be placed before :

  1. Modal verbs or auxiliary verbs such as , , , , 可以 and 应该
  2. Adverbs such as 常常, 总是, , and 已经
  3. Negatives. The negative form for sentences is 没有 or . can only be used in hypothetical conditional sentences. For example

yàoshi nĭ bù bă jīntiānde hàn zi xué hăo wŏ jiù bu gĕi nī chī fàn

今天 , 饭。

IF YOU NOTBATODAYDE CHINESE WORDS STUDY WELLI JIU NOT GIVE YOU EAT MEAL

If you don't learn today's Chinese characters, I won't give you a meal.

5. Where should the negation be placed if the (complement of degree) construction is used a sentence?

The negative is normally placed before adverbs in (complement of degree) sentences. For example:

zuótiān tā fángjiān zhĕnglĭde bù hăo

昨天 房间 整理 好。

YESTERDAY HE ROOM TIDY DE NOT GOOD

He didn't tidy the room well yesterday.

If is involved in (complement of degree) sentences, should be placed before , instead of putting the negative before the adverb :

zuótiān tā méibă fángjiān zhĕnglĭ dehĕn hăo

昨天 房间 整理

YESTERDAY HE NOT BA ROOM TIDY DE VERY GOOD

This sentence places more emphasis than previous one on the object 房间.


The following words can be placed either before
or before main verbs.

  1. Adverbs which are used to describe actions such as 认真地...
  2. Co-verbs (or prepositions) such as , , ...一起...

There are two patterns for the construction, as demonstrated in the following sections.

Pattern one with only one object

s.

m.v/co-v./adv./neg.

(complex) o.

v. + resultative compl directional compl.

construction一下/verb action/time measure

HE

méi

NOT

BA

(nĭ zuò de) fàn

( )

(YOU COOK DE) MEAL

chī wán

EAT FINISH

He didn't finish eating the meal (that you had cooked).

SHE

xiăoxīn de

小心

CAREFUL DE

BA

diànshì

T.V.

bān chū qu le

MOVE OUT (AWAY) LE

She has carefully moved the TV set out (of the room).

SHE

yīnggāi

应该

SHOULD

BA

fángjiān

房间

ROOM

zhĕnglĭ dehĕn zhĕngqí

整理 整齐

TIDY DE VERY NEAT

She should tidy the room (so that it is) clean.

HE

tì wŏ

FORME

BA

zhuōzi

TABLE

cā le yíxià

一下

WIPE LE YI XIA

He has wiped the table for me.

SHE

BA

(nà bĕn) shū

( )

(THAT BEN) BOOK

kànle sān biàn

了三

READ LE THREE TIMES

She has read that book three times.

HE

yòu

AGAIN

BA

mén

DOOR

kāi zhe le

OPEN ZHE LE

He has left the door open again.

Pattern two with a direct and an indirect object

s.

[As in pattern one]

ba

dir.o.

v. + compl.(1) indir.o. compl.(2)

SHE

BA

yī fu

衣服

CLOTHES

ná jìn wū qù le

了。

TAKE INHOUSE(AWAY)LE

She has taken the clothes into the house.

xiăowáng

XIAOWANG

BA

xiăolĭ

小李

XIAOLI

tuī chū fángjiān lái le

了。

PUSH OUTROOM (TOWARDS) LE

Xiao Wang pushed Xiao Li out of the room.

HE

BA

xìn

LETTER

jì dào Yīngguóqù le

* 了。

POST TOENGLAND (AWAY) LE

He has posted the letter to England.

YOU

bié

DON'T

BA

bĕnzi

本子

NOTEBOOK

fàng zài yĭ zi xià

** 椅子

PUT ZAICHAIR UNDER

Don't put the notebook under the chair.


6. Sometimes a sentence contains only a simple main verb and the particle . Does that mean that any simple verb + can be used in sentences?

No, it doesn't always work in this way. has two functions here:

  • Its meaning is similar to the resultative complements (to complete) (to be satisfactory) (to be away) and (to get rid of)
  • It still plays the role of the particle for completed action. You will often see this usage in colloquial language,

tā băjiŭ hēle

HE BA WINE DRINK LE

He has finished up the wine.

The full form of the above sentence will be

他把酒喝完了 or 他把酒喝掉了。

7. Is it right that the construction can only be used for real objects, and not for abstract objects?

No, it can be used for both real as well as abstract objects,

Physical object:

tā bă nà bĕn shū kàn wán le

了。

SHE BA THATBEN BOOKREADFINISH LE

She has finished reading that book.

Abstract object:

nĭ bă zhè jiàn shì bàn yí xià

YOU BATHIS JIAN MATTER DEAL YIXIA

Could you deal with that matter?
8. What shouldn't be used in sentences?

  • can't be used when you use sensory complements such as or : 看见/看到 (to see), 听见/听到 (to hear) and 碰见/碰到 (to bump into). One can't say:

昨天我把小王看见了

Instead one should say:

zuótiān wŏ kànjiàn xiăo wángle

昨天 看见 了。

YESTERDAY I SEE XIAO WANG LE

I saw XiaoWang yesterday.

  • can't be used when you use the complement to imply reaching a level or time (the direct object of the sentence). One can't say:

我们把第三课学到了

Instead one should say:

wŏ men xué dào dì sān kè le

了。

WE LEARN TO3RD LESSON LE

We have reached lesson 3.

Please note: can be used if the complement implies "to get hold of..." as in 找到 (to find), 借到 (lit. to get hold of something by borrowing), and 买到 (lit. to get hold of sth. by buying),

wŏ bă nàbĕn shū măi dào le

了。

I BA THAT BEN BOOK BUY GET HOLD OF LE

I've bought that book.

The complement can also be used in a construction if the sentence has a direct and indirect object and the indirect object is a place. or should be preceded by the place,

wŏbă xìn sòng dào xiăowáng jiāqù

I BA LETTER DELIVERTO XIAO WANG HOME GO

I shall deliver the letter to Xiao Wang's place.

  • In sentences where the main verb indicates knowing and hoping e.g., 知道,愿意, and 希望), the construction can't be used. One can't say:

X小王把那件事知道了一年

Instead one should say:

xiăowáng zhīdào nàjiànshì yì nián le

知道 了。

XIAO WANG KNOW THAT JIAN MATTER ONE YEAR LE

Xiao Wang has known about that matter for a year.

  • When you have a potential verb complement such as 吃不完 in a sentence, the construction can't be used. One can't say:

她把饭吃不完

Instead one should say:

tā bù néng băfàn chī wán

SHE NOT CAN BARICE EAT FINISH

She can't finish the rice.

  • The verbs which appear on the lists of resultative and directional complements (see tables of Resultative and Directional Complements) can’t be used as the MAIN verbs of sentences in the construction. They refer to either the result or the direction of actions, but not the method of actions. One can't say:

X你把这个课文懂了没有?

Instead one should say:

zhè ge kèwén nĭdŏng le méiyou

课文 没有?

THIS GE LESSON YOUUNDERSTANDLE NOT

Do you understand this lesson?

One can't say:

X她把书回去了X

Instead one should say:

tā bă shū ná huí qù le

了。

SHE BA BOOK TAKE BACK (AWAY) LE

She has taken back that book.

  • A verb which has no other element attached to it can't be used in the construction. (See Pattern One for the list of elements.) One can't say:

你能把作业作吗?

Instead one should say:

nĭ néng băzuòyè zuò yíxià ma

作业 一下 ?

YOU CAN BA HOMEWORK DO YIXIA MA

Could you do the homework for a little while?

  • The particle (for experience in the past) is not used in sentences. One wouldn't normally say:

我把那本书看过一遍

Instead one would say:

wŏbănà bĕnshū kànle yíbiàn

一遍

I BA THAT BEN BOOK READ LE ONCE

I've read through that book once.

9. When can I avoid using ?

  • When a sentence has only one object you can avoid the construction by placing the object in front of the subject, but it may sound very stilted. Let’s look at the following examples.

fángjiān qĭng nĭzhĕnglĭ yíxià qĭng nĭ bă fángjiān zhĕnglĭ yíxià

一下 房间 整理 一下

ROOM PLEASE YOU TIDY YI XIA PLEASE YOU BA ROOM TIDY YIXIA

Please tidy up the room.

Exercises

You can submit your work online here

Click here for answers

Which of the following sentences can be turned into sentences?

  1. 你听见他说的话没有?
  2. 他作完今天的练习了。
  3. 我看懂了那句很难的句子。
  4. 昨天他整理房间整理得真漂亮。
  5. 我一个人吃不了那么多东西。
  6. 你给他生日礼物了没有?
  7. 小王买到了那本书没有?
  8. 我们学到第几课啊?

Translate the following sentences into Chinese.

  1. He told Xiao Wang about that (matter).
  2. Could you bring that letter over here? Let me have a look.
  3. Where did you put my trousers? I can't find them anywhere.
  4. My students often write instead of . They are really careless.
  5. She carefully divided the dish into two halves and left one half for the next day.
  6. Mr. Wang didn't explain the sentences clearly.
  7. My friend has taken away the TV set which was in my room.
  8. Your Chinese doctor friend has sent the letter that you wrote the day before yesterday to China.
  9. You didn't write these sentences correctly.

Write Chinese sentences with the following information.

  1. Mr. Wang, the table, out of the window, throw ( rēng).
  2. He, room, pink, to paint ( qī).
  3. His girlfriend, light, to switch on.
  4. He, telephone, his boyfriend’s place, to phone.
  5. Xiao Ding, trousers, his house, to forget.
  6. You, book, page 11, to turn.



*. If the complement is used, or should be placed after the

indirect object, ...拿到教室里去. (...Take it to the classroom.)

**. If the complement is used, ,,,, or should be placed after

the indirect object, except where the names of places and 这儿, 那儿, are involved

... bă zì xiĕ zàibĕnzi shàng nĭ bù néng bă zhĭ diū zài zhèr

... 本子上。 不能 这儿。

...BA WORD WRITE ZAI NOTEBOOK ON YOU NOT CAN BA PAPER DROP ZAI HERE

...Write the words on the notebook. You can't drop paper here.