The 把 Construction
Exercises
Please note: it is important that one should learn and practise resultative and directional complements before starting on the 把 construction.
Other terminology: 把 (verb predicate) sentences/ the use of the preposition (or co-verb) 把/ the use of the pre-transitive 把 / 把字句
1. When can I use 把 sentences?
- 把 can be used when you want to deal with or to dispose of a particular object.
A verb in the 把 construction changes the form, situation or direction of the object. Verbs in 把 constructions are in complex forms. They are usually verbs of method of action plus other elements.
- 把 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:
他 喝 完 酒 了。
HE DRINK FINISH WINE LE
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The resultative complement 完 (to complete) can refer either to the object 酒 or
to the verb 喝, 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 把 construction, the meaning is clearer:
tā
他
HE
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bă jiŭ
把 酒
BAWINE
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hēwán le
喝 完 了
DRINK FINISH LE
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He has drunk up all the wine.
The above example shows that the element 完 (attached to the main verb 喝) 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 把 construction is used. Let’s compare the following patterns:
Patterns in English
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Patterns in Chinese
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v. dir.o. indir.o.
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把 dir.o. v. c. indir.o.
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...to change sth. INTO sth. else
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把 sth. 变成 sth. else
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...to cut a cake into 4 pieces.
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把蛋糕 切成 四块
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...to translate English into Chinese
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把英文 翻译成 汉语
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...to take sth. TO swh.
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把 sth. 拿 到 swh. 去/来
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...to take the TV to the bedroom
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把 电视拿 到 卧室去
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...to take sth. TO sb.
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把 sth. 拿 给 sb.
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...to deliver a book to Mr. Li
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把 书 拿 给 李先生
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...to put sth. AT/ IN/ ON/...sth. else
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把 sth.放 在 sth. else
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...to put the paper on the table
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把 纸 放 在 桌 上
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...to post sth. BACK TO swh.
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把 sth. 寄 回 swh. 去
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...to send the money back to China
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把 钱 寄 回 中国 去
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...to take sth. IN TO swh.
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把 sth. 拿 进 swh . 来
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...to take the book in to the room
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把 书 拿 进 房间 来
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As you can see, the resultative complements 成 (to become) INTO; 到 (to arrive)
TO [a place]; 给 (to give) TO [a person], 在 (to be) AT, IN, ON, UNDER and the
combined directional complements 回去 /来 (back) BACK TO can all be used in the above 把 sentences.
2. How can I form a sentence with 把?
As you can see from the above examples, the objects which you want to dispose of are placed after 把, 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 把 construction?
The elements which can be attached to the main verbs in 把sentences are: (Place the mouse on the following words to view the examples and click on the words to read the explanations.)
- Resultative complements (apart from 见)
- Directional complements
- 得 (complement of degree) constructions
- 一下 (or 一 verb)
- Time/action measures
- The particle 着
4. Apart from a subject of a sentence, what other elements can be placed before 把?
The following should be placed before 把:
- Modal verbs or auxiliary verbs such as 想, 要, 能, 会, 可以 and 应该
- Adverbs such as 常常, 总是, 都, 也and 已经
- Negatives. The negative form for 把 sentences is 没有 or 别. 不 can only be used in hypothetical conditional sentences. For example
要 是你 不把今天 的 汉 字 学好, 我 就 不 给 你吃 饭。
IF YOU NOTBATODAYDE CHINESE WORDS STUDY WELLI JIU NOT GIVE YOU EAT MEAL
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If you don't learn today's Chinese characters, I won't give you a meal.
5. Where should the negation 不 be placed if the 得 (complement of degree) construction is used a 把 sentence?
The negative 不 is normally placed before adverbs in 得 (complement of degree) sentences. For example:
昨天 他 房间 整理 得 不 好。
YESTERDAY HE ROOM TIDY DE NOT GOOD
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He didn't tidy the room well yesterday.
If 把 is involved in 得 (complement of degree) sentences, 没 should be placed before 把, instead of putting the negative 不 before the adverb 好:
昨天 他 没 把 房间 整理 得 很 好。
YESTERDAY HE NOT BA ROOM TIDY DE VERY GOOD
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This sentence places more emphasis than previous one on the object 房间.
The following words can be placed either before 把 or before main verbs.
- Adverbs which are used to describe actions such as 认真地...
- Co-verbs (or prepositions) such as 为, 从, 跟...一起...
There are two patterns for the 把 construction, as demonstrated in the following sections. Pattern one with only one object
s.
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m.v/co-v./adv./neg.
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把
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(complex) o.
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v. + resultative compl directional compl.
得 construction一下/一verb action/time measure
着
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tā
他
HE
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没
NOT
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把
BA
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(你 作 的) 饭
(YOU COOK DE) MEAL
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吃 完
EAT FINISH
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He didn't finish eating the meal (that you had cooked).
她
SHE
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小心 地
CAREFUL DE
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bă
把
BA
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电 视
T.V.
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She has carefully moved the TV set out (of the room).
tā
她
SHE
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yīnggāi
应该
SHOULD
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bă
把
BA
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fángjiān
房间
ROOM
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zhĕnglĭ dehĕn zhĕngqí
整理 得很 整齐
TIDY DE VERY NEAT
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She should tidy the room (so that it is) clean.
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tì wŏ
替 我
FORME
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bă
把
BA
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zhuōzi
桌 子
TABLE
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cā le yíxià
擦 了 一下
WIPE LE YI XIA
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He has wiped the table for me.
她
SHE
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(nà bĕn) shū
(那 本)书
(THAT BEN) BOOK
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kànle sān biàn
看 了三 遍
READ LE THREE TIMES
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She has read that book three times.
tā
他
HE
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yòu
又
AGAIN
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bă
把
BA
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mén
门
DOOR
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kāi zhe le
开 着 了
OPEN ZHE LE
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He has left the door open again.
s.
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[As in pattern one]
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ba
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dir.o.
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v. + compl.(1) indir.o. compl.(2)
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tā
她
SHE
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bă
把
BA
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yī fu
衣服
CLOTHES
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ná jìn wū qù le
拿 进 屋 去 了。
TAKE INHOUSE(AWAY)LE
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She has taken the clothes into the house.
xiăowáng
小 王
XIAOWANG
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把
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xiăolĭ
小李
XIAOLI
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tuī chū fángjiān lái le
推出房 间 来 了。
PUSH OUTROOM (TOWARDS) LE
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Xiao Wang pushed Xiao Li out of the room.
tā
他
HE
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xìn
信
LETTER
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jì dào Yīngguóqù le
寄 到 英 国 去 了。
POST TOENGLAND (AWAY) LE
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He has posted the letter to England.
nĭ
你
YOU
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bié
别
DON'T
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bĕnzi
本子
NOTEBOOK
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fàng zài yĭ zi xià
放 在 椅子 下。
PUT ZAICHAIR UNDER
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Don't put the notebook under the chair.
6. Sometimes a 把 sentence contains only a simple main verb and the particle 了. Does that mean that any simple verb + 了 can be used in 把 sentences?
No, it doesn't always work in this way. 了has two functions here:
- Its meaning is similar to the resultative complements 完 (to complete) 好 (to be satisfactory) 走 (to be away) and 掉 (to get rid of)
- It still plays the role of the particle for completed action. You will often see this usage in colloquial language,
他 把 酒 喝 了。
HE BA WINE DRINK LE
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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 把 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
她 把 那 本 书看 完 了。
SHE BA THATBEN BOOKREADFINISH LE
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Abstract object:
nĭ bă zhè jiàn shì bàn yí xià
你 把 这 件事 办 一 下。
YOU BATHIS JIAN MATTER DEAL YIXIA
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Could you deal with that matter? 8. What shouldn't be used in 把 sentences?
- 把 can't be used when you use sensory complements such as 见 or 到: 看见/看到 (to see), 听见/听到 (to hear) and 碰见/碰到 (to bump into). One can't say:
X 昨天我把小王看见了 X
Instead one should say:
昨天 我 看见 小 王 了。
YESTERDAY I SEE XIAO WANG LE
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I saw XiaoWang yesterday.
- 把 can't be used when you use the complement 到 to imply reaching a level or time (the direct object of the sentence). One can't say:
X 我们把第三课学到了 X
Instead one should say:
我 们 学 到 第 三 课 了。
WE LEARN TO3RD LESSON LE
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We have reached lesson 3.
Please note: 把 can be used if the complement 到 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
我 把 那 本 书 买 到 了。
I BA THAT BEN BOOK BUY GET HOLD OF LE
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I've bought that book.
The complement 到 can also be used in a 把 construction if the sentence has a direct and indirect object and the indirect object is a place. 来 or 去 should be preceded by the place,
我 把 信 送 到 小 王 家去。
I BA LETTER DELIVERTO XIAO WANG HOME GO
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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 把 construction can't be used. One can't say:
X小王把那件事知道了一年 X
Instead one should say:
小 王 知道 那 件 事 一 年了。
XIAO WANG KNOW THAT JIAN MATTER ONE YEAR LE
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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 把 construction can't be used. One can't say:
X 她把饭吃不完 X
Instead one should say:
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