Verbs with a Built-in Object — Mandarin Grammar

English verbs like "to eat" or "to read" are complete on their own. Many Mandarin verbs are not: they arrive as a pair, a verb followed by a plain everyday noun that fills the object slot. That noun is there to finish the verb, not to name anything in particular. (chī fànㄔㄈㄢˋch'ih1 fan4) is eat plus meal, and it means simply to eat.

Learn these as pairs. Using the verb by itself sounds unfinished, in the way that English "I am having" sounds unfinished.

The Common Pairs

In each pair below the second word is an ordinary noun you already know, and the English is a single verb.

我们在吃饭。
wǒ·men zài chī fàn.ㄨㄛˇ·˙ㄇㄣㄗㄞˋ ㄔㄈㄢˋ.wo3·mên tsai4 ch'ih1 fan4.
We are eating.
妈妈在做饭。
mā·ma zài zuò fàn.ㄇㄚ·˙ㄇㄚㄗㄞˋ ㄗㄨㄛˋ ㄈㄢˋ.ma1·ma tsai4 tso4 fan4.
Mom is cooking.
他喜欢看书。
tā xǐ·huan kàn shū.ㄊㄚㄒㄧˇ·˙ㄏㄨㄢㄎㄢˋ ㄕㄨ.t'a1 shi3·huan k'an4 shu1.
He likes to read.
她在唱歌。
tā zài chàng gē.ㄊㄚㄗㄞˋ ㄔㄤˋ ㄍㄜ.t'a1 tsai4 ch'ang4 ko1.
She is singing.

The most general pair of all

When you do not want to say what is being eaten at all, the noun is (dōng·xiㄉㄨㄥ·˙ㄒㄧtung1·shi) - thing.

他在吃东西。
tā zài chī dōng·xi.ㄊㄚㄗㄞˋ ㄔㄉㄨㄥ·˙ㄒㄧ.t'a1 tsai4 ch'ih1 tung1·shi.
He is eating.

Pairs Written as One Word

A few of these have fused so tightly that they are written and learned as single verbs: (shuì·jiàoㄕㄨㄟˋ·ㄐㄧㄠˋshui4·chiao4) - to sleep, (tiào·wǔㄊㄧㄠˋ·ㄨˇt'iao4·wu3) - to dance and (yóu·yǒngㄧㄡˊ·ㄩㄥˇyu2·yung3) - to swim. They are built the same way, and they come apart in the same places.

她喜欢跳舞。
tā xǐ·huan tiào·wǔ.ㄊㄚㄒㄧˇ·˙ㄏㄨㄢㄊㄧㄠˋ·ㄨˇ.t'a1 shi3·huan t'iao4·wu3.
She likes to dance.
我们去游泳吧。
wǒ·men qù yóu·yǒng ba.ㄨㄛˇ·˙ㄇㄣㄑㄩˋ ㄧㄡˊ·ㄩㄥˇ ˙ㄅㄚ.wo3·mên ch'ü4 yu2·yung3 pa.
Let's go swimming.
我们跳个舞吧。
wǒ·men tiào ge wǔ ba.ㄨㄛˇ·˙ㄇㄣㄊㄧㄠˋ ˙ㄍㄜㄨˇ ˙ㄅㄚ.wo3·mên t'iao4 ko wu3 pa.
Let's have a dance.

Naming the Thing Instead

The built-in noun is only a placeholder, so it makes way as soon as you name what is really involved - a particular food, a particular text, a particular meal. You use one or the other, never both.

他在吃苹果。
tā zài chī píng·guǒ.ㄊㄚㄗㄞˋ ㄔㄆㄧㄥˊ·ㄍㄨㄛˇ.t'a1 tsai4 ch'ih1 p'ing2·ko3.
He is eating an apple.
我在看报纸。
wǒ zài kàn bào·zhǐ.ㄨㄛˇ ㄗㄞˋ ㄎㄢˋ ㄅㄠˋ·ㄓˇ.wo3 tsai4 k'an4 pao4·chih3.
I am reading the newspaper.
我们在吃午饭。
wǒ·men zài chī wǔ·fàn.ㄨㄛˇ·˙ㄇㄣㄗㄞˋ ㄔㄨˇ·ㄈㄢˋ.wo3·mên tsai4 ch'ih1 wu3·fan4.
We are eating lunch.

Nouns That Never Stand Alone

Some of these nouns exist only inside their pair. (zǎoㄗㄠˇtsao3) - bath - appears only after (xǐㄒㄧˇshi3) - to wash, and (mángㄇㄤˊmang2) - favor - only after (bāngㄅㄤpang1) - to help. Neither is ever used by itself, so the pair is what you memorize.

我晚上洗澡。
wǒ wǎn·shang xǐ zǎo.ㄨㄛˇ ㄨㄢˇ·˙ㄕㄤㄒㄧˇ ㄗㄠˇ.wo3 wan3·shang shi3 tsao3.
I shower in the evening.
你能帮忙吗？
nǐ néng bāng máng ma?ㄋㄧˇ ㄋㄥˊ ㄅㄤㄇㄤˊ ˙ㄇㄚ?ni3 nêng2 pang1 mang2 ma?
Can you help?

Splitting the Pair

Because the second word genuinely is an object, whatever would normally stand in front of an object goes between the two halves rather than before the verb.

A classifier

我要洗个澡。
wǒ yào xǐ ge zǎo.ㄨㄛˇ ㄧㄠˋ ㄒㄧˇ ˙ㄍㄜㄗㄠˇ.wo3 yao4 shi3 ko tsao3.
I want to take a shower.
我们去吃个饭吧。
wǒ·men qù chī ge fàn ba.ㄨㄛˇ·˙ㄇㄣㄑㄩˋ ㄔ ˙ㄍㄜㄈㄢˋ ˙ㄅㄚ.wo3·mên ch'ü4 ch'ih1 ko fan4 pa.
Let's go and have a meal.

A question word or an owner

This is why you cannot put the person you are helping after (bāng mángㄅㄤㄇㄤˊpang1 mang2) - they go inside it.

我能帮你什么忙吗？
wǒ néng bāng nǐ shén·me máng ma?ㄨㄛˇ ㄋㄥˊ ㄅㄤㄋㄧˇ ㄕㄣˊ·˙ㄇㄜㄇㄤˊ ˙ㄇㄚ?wo3 nêng2 pang1 ni3 shên2·mê mang2 ma?
What can I help you with?
他在帮我的忙。
tā zài bāng wǒ de máng.ㄊㄚㄗㄞˋ ㄅㄤㄨㄛˇ ˙ㄉㄜㄇㄤˊ.t'a1 tsai4 pang1 wo3 tê mang2.
He is helping me.

An aspect marker or a length of time

你吃过饭吗？
nǐ chī guò fàn ma?ㄋㄧˇ ㄔㄍㄨㄛˋ ㄈㄢˋ ˙ㄇㄚ?ni3 ch'ih1 ko4 fan4 ma?
Have you eaten?
我睡了六个小时觉。
wǒ shuì le liù gè xiǎo·shí jiào.ㄨㄛˇ ㄕㄨㄟˋ ˙ㄌㄜㄌㄧㄡˋ ㄍㄜˋ ㄒㄧㄠˇ·ㄕˊ ㄐㄧㄠˋ.wo3 shui4 lê liu4 ko4 shiao3·shih2 chiao4.
I slept for six hours.

Leaving the Object Out

Once the pair has been said, the bare verb can carry on by itself in the next clause. The noun is already understood, and repeating it would sound heavy.

他在吃东西,但他不经常吃。
tā zài chī dōng·xi, dàn tā bù jīng·cháng chī.ㄊㄚㄗㄞˋ ㄔㄉㄨㄥ·˙ㄒㄧ, ㄉㄢˋ ㄊㄚㄅㄨˋ ㄐㄧㄥ·ㄔㄤˊ ㄔ.t'a1 tsai4 ch'ih1 tung1·shi, tan4 t'a1 pu4 ching1·ch'ang2 ch'ih1.
He is eating, but he does not eat often.
孩子在睡觉,妈妈没睡。
hái·zi zài shuì·jiào, mā·ma méi shuì.ㄏㄞˊ·˙ㄗㄗㄞˋ ㄕㄨㄟˋ·ㄐㄧㄠˋ, ㄇㄚ·˙ㄇㄚㄇㄟˊ ㄕㄨㄟˋ.hai2·tsŭ tsai4 shui4·chiao4, ma1·ma mei2 shui4.
The child is sleeping, mom is not.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Mandarin course

21 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 11. A few of them, with the words “Verbs with a Built-in Object” is about in bold:

他也在睡觉。她没睡。
tā yě zài shuì·jiào. tā méi shuì.ㄊㄚㄧㄝˇ ㄗㄞˋ ㄕㄨㄟˋ·ㄐㄧㄠˋ. ㄊㄚㄇㄟˊ ㄕㄨㄟˋ.t'a1 yeh3 tsai4 shui4·chiao4. t'a1 mei2 shui4.
He is also sleeping. She isn't.
Lesson 16
睡觉前我要洗个澡。
shuì·jiào qián wǒ yào xǐ gè zǎo.ㄕㄨㄟˋ·ㄐㄧㄠˋ ㄑㄧㄢˊ ㄨㄛˇ ㄧㄠˋ ㄒㄧˇ ㄍㄜˋ ㄗㄠˇ.shui4·chiao4 ch'ien2 wo3 yao4 shi3 ko4 tsao3.
I'll take a bath before going to bed.
Lesson 481
鸟儿在花园里唱歌。
niǎo·r zài huā·yuán lǐ chàng gē.ㄋㄧㄠˇ·ㄦㄗㄞˋ ㄏㄨㄚ·ㄩㄢˊ ㄌㄧˇ ㄔㄤˋ ㄍㄜ.niao3·rh tsai4 hua1·yüan2 li3 ch'ang4 ko1.
The birds are singing in the garden.
Lesson 489

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