Co-verbs 在﹐到﹐给﹐对﹐为﹐从﹐离﹐跟﹐用﹐坐 ......

Exercises

Other terminology: pre-transitive verbs, preposition, 介词

1. What are co-verbs?

Many co-verbs are verbs in Chinese, but some of them can only be used as co-verbs in modern Chinese, such as and . ( and are not included in the following chart of co-verbs. Please see the separate notes on the and constructions.)

2. Why should I treat these words as co-verbs, but not prepositions?

In Chinese, when it comes to describing actions, sequence of actions is important. The first action should come first. For example, I went to China by airplane. You have to think that the action of sitting on the airplane happens before going to China, therefore 坐飞机 by airplane should be placed before 去中国went to China. If you want to say: I go to school by car, you must bear in mind that in a Chinese person’s mind you have to sit in the car before you can reach school, therefore, 坐汽车 by car should be placed before去学校go to school.

As you can see from the above examples, a co-verb is followed by a noun to form a co-verb clause.

Commonly used Co-verbs

Character

Pinyin

Verb meaning

Prep. in English sentence

Followed by words of

*

cóng

to start

from /through

place/time

cáo

to face

toward

direction/place

dào

to arrive

to

place/time

duì

to be face to face

to/towards/about

people/knowledge

gĕi

to give

to/for

people/organization

gēn

to follow

with/to

people/organization (...一起)

to distance

from

place/time

to replace

for

people/organization

wàng

to go

toward

direction/place

*

wèi

to be on behalf of

for

people/organization

yòng

to use

with/in

noun (used as a tool)

zài

to locate

at/in/on

place/time

zuò

to sit

by ...

transport...

3. How can I form a sentence with a co-v. clause?

A co-verb clause should be placed before a main verb of a sentence. The following are examples of sentence patterns with co-verb clauses.

s

co-v. cl

v

o

I

cóng xuéxiào

学校

FROM SCHOOL

GO

diànyĭngyuàn

.

CINEMA

I'll go to the cinema from school.

s

co-v. cl

v

o

I

zài jiā

AT HOME

chī

EAT

fàn

.

MEAL

I eat at home.

4. Where should adverbs such as 常常, 总是, and modal verbs such as 可以, 应该 be placed in sentences in which co-verbs are used?

Adverbs, such as 常常, 总是, and modal verbs such as 可以, 应该 should be placed before a co-verb clause.

s

mv/adv

co-v. cl

v

o

I

kĕiyĭ chángcháng

可以 常常 CAN OFTEN

zài jiā

AT HOME

chī

EAT

fàn

.

MEAL

I can often eat at home.

5. What should I do if a sentence has more than one co-v. clause?

If a sentence has more than one co-verb, you must think about the sequence of actions and put the first action first. For example,

tā yòngzhōngwénduì wŏ shuō

中文 ...

HEIN CHINESE TO ME SAY...

He said to me in Chinese...

qĭng nĭ gĕi wŏ gēn lăoshī shuō yíxiàr

老师 一下儿.

PLEASE YOU FOR ME TO TEACHER SAY YIXIAR

Could you say that to the teacher for me?

6. Can you tell me the difference between and ?

  1. and can both be used to describe distances and durations, but with different word-orders.

A

B

sv/v+duration/v+distance

cóng

FROM

wŏ jiā

MY HOME

dào

TO

xuéxiào

SCHOOL

hĕn yuăn

VERY FAR

It is very far from my home to school.

cóng

FROM

zhèr

这儿

MY HOME

dào

TO

xuéxiào

SCHOOL

yào yí ge xiăoshí

小时

NEED ONE GE HOUR

It takes an hour from here to school.

A

B

sv/v+duration/v+distance*

wŏ jiā

MY HOME

FROM

xuéxiào

SCHOOL

hĕn yuăn

VERY FAR

zhèr

这儿

HERE

FROM

xuéxiào

SCHOOL

yào yí ge xiăoshí

小时

NEED ONE GE HOUR

2. can't be used if you don't state the duration of time or distance between A and B, but can be used, as in

wŏ cóng shítáng lái zhèr

这儿.

I FROM CANTEEN COME HERE

I came from the canteen.

7. What is the difference between the co-verb and ?

The co-verb has ambiguous meanings. It can be "for" or "to", but often means "for" or "on behalf of" which is similar to .

wŏ gĕiwŏ péngyou xiĕ xìn

.

I TO/FOR MY FRIEND WRITE LETTER

I am writing to my friend./ I am writing for my friend.

wŏ wèi wŏ péngyou xiĕ xìn

朋友 .

I FOR MY FRIEND WRITE LETTER

I am writing a letter for my friend.

8. What is the difference between 我跟他说, 我对他说 and 我给他说?

They are all similar and they can all mean "I'll speak to him.", but the implications can be slightly different:

___ To talk with him.

___ To talk to him face to face.

___ Ambiguous: can either mean to or for.

Exercises

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1. Translate the following sentences into Chinese.

1. I am going out and you are going to see your friend, but who is going to cook for the children?

2. Don't speak to me in Mandarin.

3. Don't always do everything for him.

4. Do you often eat lunch at home?

5. The people who live in China are very different from the overseas Chinese.

6. Where is the shop which you bought these apples from?

7. We all like the fish from the Yellow River.

8. How far away is the Imperial Palace?

9. My home is outside the city, and is about 30 km from here.

10. Mr. Wang lives far away from school.

11. How can I get to the Language Institute from here? You can get there by plane.

12. He has been working non-stop since yesterday.

13. Do you remember the vocabulary from Lessons One to Forty five?

14. I have learnt from the newspaper that China is about to achieve the Four Modernizations.

Make sentences in Chinese with the following information.

1. My classmate, with, went to, cinema.

2. We, from the library, to canteen, will go.

3. Now, to the end of class, 15 mins.

4. I, Chinese characters, with a pen-brush, to write.

5. You, China trip, tell me about, in Chinese.

6. Can, the meal, you, eat with, chopsticks.

7. My home, by car, to the Institute, 3 hrs., needs.

8. A letter, to Xiao Wang’s mother, for me, in Chinese, write.



* These are not used as verbs in modern Chinese.

* A and B can be places or time.