Binominal verbs and verb-object patterns (8)
A Chinese character has only one syllable, and every character has its own meaning or function in a sentence, but many words in spoken Chinese are multi-syllabic. There are many binominal verbs, some of which take an adverb-verb form, such as 欢迎 huānyíng welcome (lit. joyfully greet). Some take a verb-verb form, as in 学习 xuéxí study (lit. learn practise), while others take a verb-object form of a verb and a noun, such as 吃饭 ( chī fàn lit. eat meal) to eat; 教书 ( jiāo shū lit. teach books) to teach and 吸烟 ( xī yān lit. i nhale smoke) to smoke . Have you eaten in Chinese is 你 吃饭了吗 ? nĭ chī fàn le ma (lit. you eat meal LE MA), while I teach at Oxford will be
我 在 牛津 教 书
(lit. I am at Oxford teach books ).
Many textbooks don’t indicate the structure of Chinese words in their vocabulary lists. Verb-object words are often categorised as verbs. This may cause confusion when forming sentences at a more advanced stage in your learning, so it would be a good idea to mark verb-object pattern words when you are learning new vocabulary. The following table consists of the most commonly used verb-object words.
V-O words |
Meanings |
Examples |
说话 shuōhuà say speech |
speak |
|
吃饭 chīfàn eat meal/rice |
eat |
|
睡觉 shuìjiào sleep a sleep |
sleep |
|
看书 kànshū read books |
read |
|
写字 xiězì write words |
write |
|
画画 huàhuà draw pictures |
paint/draw |
|
唱歌 chànggē sing songs |
sing |
|
吸烟 xīyān inhale smoke |
smoke |
|
教书 jiāoshū teach books |
teach |
|
念书 niànshū read books |
study |
|
洗澡 xĭzăo wash bathe |
wash/bathe |
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Translate the following sentences into Chinese (8, verb-object)
Do you smoke?
I don't smoke.
Many Chinese people smoke.
Please have some tea?
What kind of tea tea do you have, Chinese or English?
Chinese. Is it OK?
I go to sleep at 12 everyday.
I don't sleep. I don't eat.
Everyone eats and sleeps.