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 吃饭了吗 ? chī fàn le ma (lit. you eat meal LE MA), while I teach at Oxford will be

牛津

wǒ zài Niújīn jiāo shū

(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

别说话 ! bié shuō huà Don’t speak!

吃饭 chīfàn eat meal/rice

eat

不吃饭。 bù chī fàn Not eating.

睡觉 shuìjiào sleep a sleep

sleep

没睡觉。 méi shuì jiào Didn’t sleep.

看书 kànshū read books

read

他在看书。 tā zài kànshū He is reading.

写字 xiězì write words

write

我不会写字。 wŏ búhuì xiě zì I can’t write.

画画 huàhuà draw pictures

paint/draw

你会画画吗? nĭ huì huà huà ma Can you draw?

唱歌 chànggē sing songs

sing

他会唱歌吗? tā huì chàng gē Can he sing?

吸烟 xīyān inhale smoke

smoke

我不吸烟。 wŏ bú huì xī yān I don’t smoke?

教书 jiāoshū teach books

teach

他在中国教书。 tā zài zhōngguó jiāo shū He teaches in China.

念书 niànshū read books

study

你在哪儿念书? nĭ zài năr niàn shū Where do you study?

洗澡 xĭzăo wash bathe

wash/bathe

我不洗澡。 wŏ bùxĭ zăo I don’t wash.

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Assignments .

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.