{"id":8381,"date":"2023-06-11T23:24:44","date_gmt":"2023-06-11T15:24:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/?p=8381"},"modified":"2026-08-21T16:39:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T08:39:02","slug":"separable-verbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Separable Verbs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_86 ez-toc-wrap-left counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-white ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#What_Are_Separable_Verbs\" >What Are Separable Verbs?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#How_Do_They_Work\" >How Do They Work?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#Detail_1_%E2%80%94_Aspect_Markers\" >Detail 1 \u2014 Aspect Markers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#Detail_2_%E2%80%94_Duration_or_Quantity\" >Detail 2 \u2014 Duration or Quantity<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#Detail_3_%E2%80%94_An_Adjective\" >Detail 3 \u2014 An Adjective<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#Detail_4_%E2%80%94_An_Interrogative\" >Detail 4 \u2014 An Interrogative<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#Verb_or_Verb-Object_Structure_%E2%80%94_Same_Thing\" >Verb, or Verb-Object Structure \u2014 Same Thing?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#What_Counts_as_a_%E2%80%9CVerb%E2%80%9D\" >What Counts as a &#8220;Verb&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#What_Counts_as_a_%E2%80%9CVerb-Object_Structure%E2%80%9D\" >What Counts as a &#8220;Verb-Object Structure&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#Two_More_Pairs\" >Two More Pairs<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#Can_You_Change_the_Object\" >Can You Change the Object?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#The_Object_Can_Move_to_the_Front_Too\" >The Object Can Move to the Front, Too<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#Do_All_Verbs_Use_the_VO_Structure\" >Do All Verbs Use the VO Structure?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#Verbs_That_Cant_Take_an_Object\" >Verbs That Can&#8217;t Take an Object<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#Two-Character_Verbs_That_Arent_VO_Pairs\" >Two-Character Verbs That Aren&#8217;t VO Pairs<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<link rel=\"preconnect\" href=\"https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\">\n<link rel=\"preconnect\" href=\"https:\/\/fonts.gstatic.com\" crossorigin=\"\">\n<link href=\"https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css2?family=Cormorant+Garamond:ital,wght@0,400;0,500;0,600;1,500&amp;family=Noto+Serif+TC:wght@300;500;600&amp;family=Noto+Serif+SC:wght@300;500;600&amp;family=Jost:wght@400;500&amp;display=swap\" rel=\"stylesheet\">\n\n<style>\n\n  .odd-post{\n    --ink: #24221D;\n    --ink-soft: #726E64;\n    --jade: #3F5D52;\n    --jade-deep: #2B4038;\n    --gold: #A9843F;\n    --red: #A13D2C;\n    --hair: rgba(36,34,29,0.13);\n    --panel: #FAF9F5;\n\n    background: #FFFFFF;\n    color: var(--ink);\n    font-family: 'Jost', sans-serif;\n    font-weight: 400;\n    line-height: 1.75;\n    -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;\n    max-width: 680px;\n    margin: 0 auto;\n    padding: 0 32px;\n  }\n\n  .odd-post *{ box-sizing: border-box; }\n  .odd-post ::selection{ background: var(--jade); color: #fff; }\n  .odd-post a{ color: var(--jade-deep); text-decoration-color: rgba(63,93,82,0.4); text-underline-offset: 3px; }\n  .odd-post a:hover{ text-decoration-color: var(--jade-deep); }\n\n  .odd-post ruby{ ruby-position: over; }\n  .odd-post ruby .rb{ font-family:'Noto Serif TC', serif; }\n  .odd-post ruby.lang-zh-CN .rb{ font-family:'Noto Serif SC', serif; }\n  .odd-post rt{\n    font-family:'Jost', sans-serif;\n    font-weight: 400;\n    font-size: 0.7em;\n    letter-spacing: 0.02em;\n    color: var(--ink-soft);\n  }\n\n  .odd-post .eyebrow{\n    font-family:'Jost', sans-serif;\n    font-size: 12px;\n    font-weight: 500;\n    letter-spacing: 0.24em;\n    text-transform: uppercase;\n    color: var(--gold);\n    margin: 0 0 26px;\n    text-align:center;\n  }\n\n  .odd-post .hero{ padding: 6px 0 0; text-align:center; }\n  .odd-post h1.hero-title{\n    font-family:'Cormorant Garamond', serif;\n    font-weight: 500;\n    font-style: italic;\n    font-size: clamp(28px, 5vw, 42px);\n    line-height: 1.18;\n    margin: 0 auto 6px;\n    max-width: 22ch;\n  }\n  .odd-post .brush{ display:block; width: 168px; height: 14px; margin: 6px auto 28px; }\n  .odd-post .hero-sub{ font-size: 16.5px; color: var(--ink-soft); max-width: 62ch; margin: 0 auto 8px; text-align:left; }\n\n  .odd-post .stat-callout{\n    max-width: 620px;\n    margin: 24px auto 0;\n    padding: 20px 24px;\n    border-left: 2px solid var(--gold);\n    background: var(--panel);\n    border-radius: 2px;\n    text-align:left;\n  }\n  .odd-post .stat-callout .num{ font-family:'Cormorant Garamond', serif; font-style:italic; font-weight:600; font-size: 26px; color: var(--jade-deep); }\n  .odd-post .stat-callout p{ margin: 6px 0 0; font-size: 14.5px; color: var(--ink); }\n\n  .odd-post .divider{ border-top: 1px solid var(--hair); border-bottom: 1px solid var(--hair); margin: 48px 0; }\n\n  .odd-post .section-eyebrow{\n    font-family:'Jost', sans-serif;\n    font-size: 11.5px;\n    font-weight: 500;\n    letter-spacing: 0.2em;\n    text-transform: uppercase;\n    color: var(--gold);\n    margin: 0 0 8px;\n  }\n  .odd-post h2.section-title{\n    font-family:'Cormorant Garamond', serif;\n    font-weight: 500;\n    font-style: italic;\n    font-size: clamp(22px, 3.2vw, 27px);\n    margin: 0 0 20px;\n    color: var(--jade-deep);\n  }\n  .odd-post h3.subsection-title{\n    font-family:'Cormorant Garamond', serif;\n    font-weight: 500;\n    font-style: italic;\n    font-size: 18.5px;\n    margin: 34px 0 14px;\n    color: var(--jade-deep);\n  }\n  .odd-post .odd-post .section-body p{ font-size: 15.5px; color: var(--ink); margin: 0 0 16px; }\n\n  \/* ---------- formula rows ---------- *\/\n  .odd-post .formula-list{ margin: 0 0 26px; }\n  .odd-post .formula-row{\n    display:flex;\n    align-items:baseline;\n    flex-wrap: wrap;\n    gap: 6px 10px;\n    padding: 14px 0;\n    border-top: 1px solid var(--hair);\n    font-size: 17px;\n  }\n  .odd-post .formula-row:first-child{ border-top: none; }\n  .odd-post .formula-row .plus,\n  .odd-post .formula-row .eq{ color: var(--gold); font-weight: 600; font-size: 15px; }\n  .odd-post .formula-row .gloss{\n    display:block;\n    width: 100%;\n    color: var(--ink-soft);\n    font-size: 13.5px;\n    font-style: italic;\n    font-family:'Cormorant Garamond', serif;\n    margin-top: 2px;\n  }\n\n  \/* ---------- example list ---------- *\/\n  .odd-post .example-list{ margin: 0 0 26px; }\n  .odd-post .example-row{ padding: 14px 0; border-top: 1px solid var(--hair); }\n  .odd-post .example-row:first-child{ border-top: none; }\n  .odd-post .example-row .zh-block{ font-size: 17px; display:block; margin-bottom: 4px; }\n  .odd-post .example-row .gloss{ color: var(--ink-soft); font-size: 14.5px; font-style: italic; font-family:'Cormorant Garamond', serif; }\n  .odd-post .example-row .note{ display:block; color: var(--ink-soft); font-size: 13px; margin-top: 4px; }\n  .odd-post .example-row.wrong .mark-x{ color: var(--red); font-weight: 700; margin-right: 8px; font-family:'Jost', sans-serif; }\n  .odd-post .example-row.wrong .zh-block{ opacity: 0.8; }\n  .odd-post .example-row.wrong .gloss{ color: var(--red); }\n  .odd-post .example-row.right .mark-check{ color: var(--jade-deep); font-weight: 700; margin-right: 8px; }\n\n  .odd-post .compare-pair{\n    display:flex;\n    gap: 24px;\n    flex-wrap: wrap;\n    margin: 0 0 26px;\n  }\n  .odd-post .compare-pair > div{ flex: 1 1 220px; }\n  .odd-post .compare-pair .compare-label{\n    font-family:'Jost', sans-serif;\n    font-size: 11px;\n    letter-spacing: 0.1em;\n    text-transform: uppercase;\n    color: var(--gold);\n    margin: 0 0 8px;\n  }\n  .odd-post .compare-pair .compare-zh{ font-size: 20px; margin-bottom: 6px; }\n\n  .odd-post .closing{ padding: 40px 0 10px; text-align:center; }\n  .odd-post .closing p{\n    margin: 0 auto; max-width: 54ch;\n    font-family:'Cormorant Garamond', serif; font-style: italic; font-size: 19px;\n    color: var(--ink-soft); line-height: 1.6;\n  }\n\n<\/style>\n\n<article class=\"odd-post\">\n\n  <section class=\"hero\">\n    <p class=\"eyebrow\">A field guide for learners<\/p>\n    <h1 class=\"hero-title\">Chinese Separable Verbs<\/h1>\n    <svg class=\"brush\" viewBox=\"0 0 168 14\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n      <path d=\"M2 8C24 3 46 11 68 6C90 1 112 10 134 5C148 2 158 6 166 4\" stroke=\"#A9843F\" stroke-width=\"1.6\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"><\/path>\n    <\/svg>\n    <p class=\"hero-sub\">\n      Some of the most basic verbs you&#8217;ll learn \u2014 <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7761\u89ba<\/span><rt>shu\u00ecji\u00e0o<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7761\u89c9<\/span><rt>shu\u00ecji\u00e0o<\/rt><\/ruby> &#8220;to sleep,&#8221;\n      <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403\u98ef<\/span><rt>ch\u012bf\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403\u996d<\/span><rt>ch\u012bf\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby> &#8220;to eat,&#8221;\n      <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u770b\u66f8<\/span><rt>k\u00e0nsh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u770b\u4e66<\/span><rt>k\u00e0nsh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby> &#8220;to read&#8221; \u2014 aren&#8217;t single words at all. Each one is a\n      verb fused to an object, and the two can pull apart whenever a sentence needs room for more detail.\n    <\/p>\n    <div class=\"stat-callout\">\n      <span class=\"num\">685 \/ 1,000<\/span>\n      <p>\n        Among the 1,000 most common verbs in modern Chinese, roughly 685 are separable. Learn the\n        pattern once, and a huge share of everyday vocabulary starts making sense on its own terms.\n      <\/p>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/section>\n\n  <div class=\"divider\"><\/div>\n\n  <section>\n    <p class=\"section-eyebrow\">The shape<\/p>\n    <h2 class=\"section-title\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Are_Separable_Verbs\"><\/span>What Are Separable Verbs?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n    <div class=\"section-body\">\n      <p>\n        Also called verb-object compounds, these pair a verb with the object it most naturally takes,\n        fusing the two into what reads \u2014 and often translates \u2014 as a single verb.\n      <\/p>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"formula-list\">\n      <div class=\"formula-row\">\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u770b<\/span><rt>k\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u770b<\/span><rt>k\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u66f8<\/span><rt>sh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4e66<\/span><rt>sh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"eq\">=<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u770b\u66f8<\/span><rt>k\u00e0nsh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u770b\u4e66<\/span><rt>k\u00e0nsh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">read + book = to read<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"formula-row\">\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u807d<\/span><rt>t\u012bng<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u542c<\/span><rt>t\u012bng<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u97f3\u6a02<\/span><rt>y\u012bnyu\u00e8<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u97f3\u4e50<\/span><rt>y\u012bnyu\u00e8<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"eq\">=<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u807d\u97f3\u6a02<\/span><rt>t\u012bng y\u012bnyu\u00e8<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u542c\u97f3\u4e50<\/span><rt>t\u012bng y\u012bnyu\u00e8<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">listen + music = to listen to music<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"formula-row\">\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u559d<\/span><rt>h\u0113<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u559d<\/span><rt>h\u0113<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5496\u5561<\/span><rt>k\u0101f\u0113i<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5496\u5561<\/span><rt>k\u0101f\u0113i<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"eq\">=<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u559d\u5496\u5561<\/span><rt>h\u0113 k\u0101f\u0113i<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u559d\u5496\u5561<\/span><rt>h\u0113 k\u0101f\u0113i<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">drink + coffee = to drink coffee<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/section>\n\n  <div class=\"divider\"><\/div>\n\n  <section>\n    <p class=\"section-eyebrow\">The mechanism<\/p>\n    <h2 class=\"section-title\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Do_They_Work\"><\/span>How Do They Work?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n    <div class=\"section-body\">\n      <p>\n        These pairs are called &#8220;separable&#8221; because words can slide in between the verb and the object\n        without changing the meaning \u2014 they just add detail.\n      <\/p>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <h3 class=\"subsection-title\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Detail_1_%E2%80%94_Aspect_Markers\"><\/span>Detail 1 \u2014 Aspect Markers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n    <div class=\"section-body\">\n      <p>Markers like <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u4e86<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u4e86<\/span> le, <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u904e<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u8fc7<\/span> gu\u00f2, or <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u8457<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u7740<\/span> zhe slot in to show whether the action is complete or ongoing.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"formula-list\">\n      <div class=\"formula-row\">\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5531<\/span><rt>ch\u00e0ng<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5531<\/span><rt>ch\u00e0ng<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6b4c<\/span><rt>g\u0113<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6b4c<\/span><rt>g\u0113<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"eq\">=<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5531\u4e86\u6b4c<\/span><rt>ch\u00e0ng le g\u0113<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5531\u4e86\u6b4c<\/span><rt>ch\u00e0ng le g\u0113<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">sang songs<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"formula-row\">\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u770b<\/span><rt>k\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u770b<\/span><rt>k\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8457<\/span><rt>zhe<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7740<\/span><rt>zhe<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u66f8<\/span><rt>sh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4e66<\/span><rt>sh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"eq\">=<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u770b\u8457\u66f8<\/span><rt>k\u00e0nzhe sh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u770b\u7740\u4e66<\/span><rt>k\u00e0nzhe sh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">reading (a book), ongoing<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <h3 class=\"subsection-title\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Detail_2_%E2%80%94_Duration_or_Quantity\"><\/span>Detail 2 \u2014 Duration or Quantity<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n    <div class=\"formula-list\">\n      <div class=\"formula-row\">\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u559d<\/span><rt>h\u0113<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u559d<\/span><rt>h\u0113<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4e00\u676f<\/span><rt>y\u00ecb\u0113i<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4e00\u676f<\/span><rt>y\u00ecb\u0113i<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5496\u5561<\/span><rt>k\u0101f\u0113i<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5496\u5561<\/span><rt>k\u0101f\u0113i<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"eq\">=<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u559d\u4e00\u676f\u5496\u5561<\/span><rt>h\u0113 y\u00ecb\u0113i k\u0101f\u0113i<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u559d\u4e00\u676f\u5496\u5561<\/span><rt>h\u0113 y\u00ecb\u0113i k\u0101f\u0113i<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">drink a cup of coffee<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"formula-row\">\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u807d<\/span><rt>t\u012bng<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u542c<\/span><rt>t\u012bng<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4e00\u4e0b<\/span><rt>y\u00edxi\u00e0<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4e00\u4e0b<\/span><rt>y\u00edxi\u00e0<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u97f3\u6a02<\/span><rt>y\u012bnyu\u00e8<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u97f3\u4e50<\/span><rt>y\u012bnyu\u00e8<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"eq\">=<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u807d\u4e00\u4e0b\u97f3\u6a02<\/span><rt>t\u012bng y\u00edxi\u00e0 y\u012bnyu\u00e8<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u542c\u4e00\u4e0b\u97f3\u4e50<\/span><rt>t\u012bng y\u00edxi\u00e0 y\u012bnyu\u00e8<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">listen to music for a bit<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <h3 class=\"subsection-title\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Detail_3_%E2%80%94_An_Adjective\"><\/span>Detail 3 \u2014 An Adjective<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n    <div class=\"formula-list\">\n      <div class=\"formula-row\">\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u770b<\/span><rt>k\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u770b<\/span><rt>k\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6f2b\u756b<\/span><rt>m\u00e0nhu\u00e0<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6f2b\u753b<\/span><rt>m\u00e0nhu\u00e0<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u66f8<\/span><rt>sh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4e66<\/span><rt>sh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"eq\">=<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u770b\u6f2b\u756b\u66f8<\/span><rt>k\u00e0n m\u00e0nhu\u00e0sh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u770b\u6f2b\u753b\u4e66<\/span><rt>k\u00e0n m\u00e0nhu\u00e0sh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">read comic books<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"formula-row\">\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u807d<\/span><rt>t\u012bng<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u542c<\/span><rt>t\u012bng<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u65e5\u672c<\/span><rt>R\u00ecb\u011bn<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u65e5\u672c<\/span><rt>R\u00ecb\u011bn<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u97f3\u6a02<\/span><rt>y\u012bnyu\u00e8<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u97f3\u4e50<\/span><rt>y\u012bnyu\u00e8<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"eq\">=<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u807d\u65e5\u672c\u97f3\u6a02<\/span><rt>t\u012bng R\u00ecb\u011bn y\u012bnyu\u00e8<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u542c\u65e5\u672c\u97f3\u4e50<\/span><rt>t\u012bng R\u00ecb\u011bn y\u012bnyu\u00e8<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">listen to Japanese music<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"formula-row\">\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u559d<\/span><rt>h\u0113<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u559d<\/span><rt>h\u0113<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5f88\u8cb4\u7684<\/span><rt>h\u011bngu\u00ecde<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5f88\u8d35\u7684<\/span><rt>h\u011bngu\u00ecde<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5496\u5561<\/span><rt>k\u0101f\u0113i<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5496\u5561<\/span><rt>k\u0101f\u0113i<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"eq\">=<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u559d\u5f88\u8cb4\u7684\u5496\u5561<\/span><rt>h\u0113 h\u011bngu\u00ecde k\u0101f\u0113i<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u559d\u5f88\u8d35\u7684\u5496\u5561<\/span><rt>h\u0113 h\u011bngu\u00ecde k\u0101f\u0113i<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">drink expensive coffee<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <h3 class=\"subsection-title\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Detail_4_%E2%80%94_An_Interrogative\"><\/span>Detail 4 \u2014 An Interrogative<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n    <div class=\"section-body\">\n      <p>Slotting <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u4ec0\u9ebc<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u4ec0\u4e48<\/span> sh\u00e9nme (&#8220;what&#8221;) into the same gap turns the phrase into a question about the object itself \u2014 very common in casual speech.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"formula-list\">\n      <div class=\"formula-row\">\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403<\/span><rt>ch\u012b<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403<\/span><rt>ch\u012b<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4ec0\u9ebc<\/span><rt>sh\u00e9nme<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4ec0\u4e48<\/span><rt>sh\u00e9nme<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u98ef<\/span><rt>f\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u996d<\/span><rt>f\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"eq\">=<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403\u4ec0\u9ebc\u98ef<\/span><rt>ch\u012b sh\u00e9nme f\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403\u4ec0\u4e48\u996d<\/span><rt>ch\u012b sh\u00e9nme f\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">eat + what + rice = what are you eating?<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"example-list\">\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4f60<\/span><rt>n\u01d0<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5403<\/span><rt>ch\u012b<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4ec0\u9ebc<\/span><rt>sh\u00e9nme<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u98ef<\/span><rt>f\u00e0n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\uff1f<\/span><rt><\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4f60<\/span><rt>n\u01d0<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5403<\/span><rt>ch\u012b<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4ec0\u4e48<\/span><rt>sh\u00e9nme<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u996d<\/span><rt>f\u00e0n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\uff1f<\/span><rt><\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">What are you eating?<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/section>\n\n  <div class=\"divider\"><\/div>\n\n  <section>\n    <p class=\"section-eyebrow\">A closer look<\/p>\n    <h2 class=\"section-title\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Verb_or_Verb-Object_Structure_%E2%80%94_Same_Thing\"><\/span>Verb, or Verb-Object Structure \u2014 Same Thing?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n    <div class=\"section-body\">\n      <p>Not quite. A few separable verbs look stranger than the rest at first glance:<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"formula-list\">\n      <div class=\"formula-row\">\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403<\/span><rt>ch\u012b<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403<\/span><rt>ch\u012b<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u98ef<\/span><rt>f\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u996d<\/span><rt>f\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"eq\">=<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403\u98ef<\/span><rt>ch\u012bf\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403\u996d<\/span><rt>ch\u012bf\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">eat + rice = to eat<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"formula-row\">\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6b65<\/span><rt>b\u00f9<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6b65<\/span><rt>b\u00f9<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"eq\">=<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1\u6b65<\/span><rt>p\u01ceob\u00f9<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1\u6b65<\/span><rt>p\u01ceob\u00f9<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">run + steps = to run<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"formula-row\">\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7761<\/span><rt>shu\u00ec<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7761<\/span><rt>shu\u00ec<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"plus\">+<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u89ba<\/span><rt>ji\u00e0o<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u89c9<\/span><rt>ji\u00e0o<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"eq\">=<\/span>\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7761\u89ba<\/span><rt>shu\u00ecji\u00e0o<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7761\u89c9<\/span><rt>shu\u00ecji\u00e0o<\/rt><\/ruby>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">sleep + sleeping = to sleep<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"section-body\">\n      <p>\n        Odd, right? If <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u8dd1<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u8dd1<\/span> p\u01ceo, <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u7761<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u7761<\/span> shu\u00ec, and <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u5403<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u5403<\/span> ch\u012b already work as verbs on their own, why bother adding an object?\n        The two forms aren&#8217;t interchangeable \u2014 they answer to different rules, which come down to the\n        difference between a plain verb and a Verb-Object (VO) structure.\n      <\/p>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <h3 class=\"subsection-title\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Counts_as_a_%E2%80%9CVerb%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>What Counts as a &#8220;Verb&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n    <div class=\"section-body\">\n      <p>\n        A verb like <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><\/ruby> (run),\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403<\/span><rt>ch\u012b<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403<\/span><rt>ch\u012b<\/rt><\/ruby> (eat), or\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7761<\/span><rt>shu\u00ec<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7761<\/span><rt>shu\u00ec<\/rt><\/ruby> (sleep)\n        describes an action \u2014 but it can never stand alone in a sentence. It always needs a\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/28\/chinese-complements\/\">complement<\/a> right\n        after it, describing how, how long, or how much.\n      <\/p>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"example-list\">\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4ed6<\/span><rt>t\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f97<\/span><rt>de<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f88<\/span><rt>h\u011bn<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5feb<\/span><rt>ku\u00e0i<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4ed6<\/span><rt>t\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f97<\/span><rt>de<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f88<\/span><rt>h\u011bn<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5feb<\/span><rt>ku\u00e0i<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">He runs very fast.<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5979<\/span><rt>t\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">25\u5206\u9418<\/span><rt>\u00e8rsh\u00edw\u01d4 f\u0113nzh\u014dng<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5979<\/span><rt>t\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">25\u5206\u949f<\/span><rt>\u00e8rsh\u00edw\u01d4 f\u0113nzh\u014dng<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">She ran for 25 minutes.<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5979<\/span><rt>t\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8d70<\/span><rt>z\u01d2u<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5979<\/span><rt>t\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8d70<\/span><rt>z\u01d2u<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">She runs away.<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u53bb<\/span><rt>q\u00f9<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u516c\u5712<\/span><rt>g\u014dngyu\u00e1n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u53bb<\/span><rt>q\u00f9<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u516c\u56ed<\/span><rt>g\u014dngyu\u00e1n<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">I run to the park.<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row wrong\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><span class=\"mark-x\">\u2717<\/span><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4ed6<\/span><rt>t\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u6bcf\u5929<\/span><rt>m\u011biti\u0101n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u65e9\u4e0a<\/span><rt>z\u01ceosh\u00e0ng<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4ed6<\/span><rt>t\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u6bcf\u5929<\/span><rt>m\u011biti\u0101n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u65e9\u4e0a<\/span><rt>z\u01ceoshang<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">intended: He runs every morning<\/span>\n        <span class=\"note\">\u2014 incomplete: \u8dd1 has no complement to say how the running happens.<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <h3 class=\"subsection-title\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Counts_as_a_%E2%80%9CVerb-Object_Structure%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>What Counts as a &#8220;Verb-Object Structure&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n    <div class=\"section-body\">\n      <p>\n        When there&#8217;s no complement to give, Chinese reaches for the VO structure instead \u2014 fusing the\n        verb with its natural object to make a self-sufficient activity.\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><\/ruby> (&#8220;run&#8221;) plus\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6b65<\/span><rt>b\u00f9<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6b65<\/span><rt>b\u00f9<\/rt><\/ruby> (&#8220;step&#8221;) becomes\n        <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1\u6b65<\/span><rt>p\u01ceob\u00f9<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1\u6b65<\/span><rt>p\u01ceob\u00f9<\/rt><\/ruby> \u2014 &#8220;running&#8221; as an activity in its own right,\n        the sense of jogging for exercise.\n      <\/p>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"example-list\">\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u53bb<\/span><rt>q\u00f9<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u516c\u5712<\/span><rt>g\u014dngyu\u00e1n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1\u6b65<\/span><rt>p\u01ceob\u00f9<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u53bb<\/span><rt>q\u00f9<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u516c\u56ed<\/span><rt>g\u014dngyu\u00e1n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1\u6b65<\/span><rt>p\u01ceob\u00f9<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">I go running in the park.<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u975e\u5e38<\/span><rt>f\u0113ich\u00e1ng<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e0d<\/span><rt>b\u00f9<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u559c\u6b61<\/span><rt>x\u01d0hu\u0101n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1\u6b65<\/span><rt>p\u01ceob\u00f9<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u975e\u5e38<\/span><rt>f\u0113ich\u00e1ng<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e0d<\/span><rt>b\u00f9<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u559c\u6b22<\/span><rt>x\u01d0huan<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1\u6b65<\/span><rt>p\u01ceob\u00f9<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">I really don&#8217;t like running.<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5979<\/span><rt>t\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u6bcf\u5929<\/span><rt>m\u011biti\u0101n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u65e9\u4e0a<\/span><rt>z\u01ceosh\u00e0ng<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1\u6b65<\/span><rt>p\u01ceob\u00f9<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5979<\/span><rt>t\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u6bcf\u5929<\/span><rt>m\u011biti\u0101n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u65e9\u4e0a<\/span><rt>z\u01ceoshang<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1\u6b65<\/span><rt>p\u01ceob\u00f9<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">She runs every morning.<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row wrong\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><span class=\"mark-x\">\u2717<\/span><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1\u6b65<\/span><rt>p\u01ceob\u00f9<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">20\u5206\u9418<\/span><rt>\u00e8rsh\u00ed f\u0113nzh\u014dng<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1\u6b65<\/span><rt>p\u01ceob\u00f9<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">20\u5206\u949f<\/span><rt>\u00e8rsh\u00ed f\u0113nzh\u014dng<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">intended: I ran for 20 minutes<\/span>\n        <span class=\"note\">\u2014 a VO structure can&#8217;t take a complement directly.<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row right\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><span class=\"mark-check\">\u2713<\/span><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1\u6b65<\/span><rt>p\u01ceob\u00f9<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">20\u5206\u9418<\/span><rt>\u00e8rsh\u00ed f\u0113nzh\u014dng<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1\u6b65<\/span><rt>p\u01ceob\u00f9<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8dd1<\/span><rt>p\u01ceo<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">20\u5206\u949f<\/span><rt>\u00e8rsh\u00ed f\u0113nzh\u014dng<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">I ran for 20 minutes.<\/span>\n        <span class=\"note\">\u2014 repeat the verb to attach a complement after all.<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <h3 class=\"subsection-title\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Two_More_Pairs\"><\/span>Two More Pairs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n    <div class=\"compare-pair\">\n      <div>\n        <p class=\"compare-label\">Verb<\/p>\n        <p class=\"compare-zh\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7761<\/span><rt>shu\u00ec<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7761<\/span><rt>shu\u00ec<\/rt><\/ruby><\/p>\n        <p style=\"font-size:14px; color:var(--ink-soft); margin-bottom:14px;\">Needs a complement, same as <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u8dd1<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u8dd1<\/span> p\u01ceo and <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u5403<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u5403<\/span> ch\u012b.<\/p>\n        <div class=\"example-list\">\n          <div class=\"example-row\">\n            <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u665a\u4e0a<\/span><rt>w\u01censh\u00e0ng<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u7761<\/span><rt>shu\u00ec<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f97<\/span><rt>de<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f88<\/span><rt>h\u011bn<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u597d<\/span><rt>h\u01ceo<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u665a\u4e0a<\/span><rt>w\u01censhang<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u7761<\/span><rt>shu\u00ec<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f97<\/span><rt>de<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f88<\/span><rt>h\u011bn<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u597d<\/span><rt>h\u01ceo<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n            <span class=\"gloss\">I sleep well at night.<\/span>\n          <\/div>\n          <div class=\"example-row\">\n            <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5979<\/span><rt>t\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u7761<\/span><rt>shu\u00ec<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f97<\/span><rt>de<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u592a<\/span><rt>t\u00e0i<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e45<\/span><rt>ji\u01d4<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5979<\/span><rt>t\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u7761<\/span><rt>shu\u00ec<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f97<\/span><rt>de<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u592a<\/span><rt>t\u00e0i<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e45<\/span><rt>ji\u01d4<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n            <span class=\"gloss\">She&#8217;s been sleeping too long.<\/span>\n          <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n      <div>\n        <p class=\"compare-label\">VO structure<\/p>\n        <p class=\"compare-zh\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7761\u89ba<\/span><rt>shu\u00ecji\u00e0o<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7761\u89c9<\/span><rt>shu\u00ecji\u00e0o<\/rt><\/ruby><\/p>\n        <p style=\"font-size:14px; color:var(--ink-soft); margin-bottom:14px;\">Self-sufficient; no complement needed.<\/p>\n        <div class=\"example-list\">\n          <div class=\"example-row\">\n            <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4f60<\/span><rt>n\u01d0<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u6628\u5929<\/span><rt>zu\u00f3ti\u0101n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5e7e\u9ede<\/span><rt>j\u01d0di\u01cen<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u7761\u89ba<\/span><rt>shu\u00ecji\u00e0o<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\uff1f<\/span><rt><\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4f60<\/span><rt>n\u01d0<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u6628\u5929<\/span><rt>zu\u00f3ti\u0101n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u51e0\u70b9<\/span><rt>j\u01d0di\u01cen<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u7761\u89c9<\/span><rt>shu\u00ecji\u00e0o<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\uff1f<\/span><rt><\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n            <span class=\"gloss\">What time did you go to sleep yesterday?<\/span>\n          <\/div>\n          <div class=\"example-row\">\n            <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e0a\u8ab2<\/span><rt>sh\u00e0ngk\u00e8<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5e38\u5e38<\/span><rt>ch\u00e1ngch\u00e1ng<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u7761\u89ba<\/span><rt>shu\u00ecji\u00e0o<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e0a\u8bfe<\/span><rt>sh\u00e0ngk\u00e8<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5e38\u5e38<\/span><rt>ch\u00e1ngch\u00e1ng<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u7761\u89c9<\/span><rt>shu\u00ecji\u00e0o<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n            <span class=\"gloss\">I often sleep in class.<\/span>\n          <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"compare-pair\">\n      <div>\n        <p class=\"compare-label\">Verb<\/p>\n        <p class=\"compare-zh\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403<\/span><rt>ch\u012b<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403<\/span><rt>ch\u012b<\/rt><\/ruby><\/p>\n        <p style=\"font-size:14px; color:var(--ink-soft); margin-bottom:14px;\">Needs a complement \u2014 &#8220;eat&#8221; on its own leaves the sentence open.<\/p>\n        <div class=\"example-list\">\n          <div class=\"example-row\">\n            <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4ed6<\/span><rt>t\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5403<\/span><rt>ch\u012b<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f97<\/span><rt>de<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f88<\/span><rt>h\u011bn<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5feb<\/span><rt>ku\u00e0i<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4ed6<\/span><rt>t\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5403<\/span><rt>ch\u012b<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f97<\/span><rt>de<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f88<\/span><rt>h\u011bn<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5feb<\/span><rt>ku\u00e0i<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n            <span class=\"gloss\">He eats quickly.<\/span>\n          <\/div>\n          <div class=\"example-row\">\n            <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4ed6<\/span><rt>t\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5403<\/span><rt>ch\u012b<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u98fd<\/span><rt>b\u01ceo<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4ed6<\/span><rt>t\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5403<\/span><rt>ch\u012b<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u9971<\/span><rt>b\u01ceo<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n            <span class=\"gloss\">He is full.<\/span>\n          <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n      <div>\n        <p class=\"compare-label\">VO structure<\/p>\n        <p class=\"compare-zh\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403\u98ef<\/span><rt>ch\u012bf\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403\u996d<\/span><rt>ch\u012bf\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><\/p>\n        <p style=\"font-size:14px; color:var(--ink-soft); margin-bottom:14px;\">Literally &#8220;eat rice,&#8221; but used generally for any meal.<\/p>\n        <div class=\"example-list\">\n          <div class=\"example-row\">\n            <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211\u5011<\/span><rt>w\u01d2men<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e00\u8d77<\/span><rt>y\u00ecq\u01d0<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u53bb<\/span><rt>q\u00f9<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5403\u98ef<\/span><rt>ch\u012bf\u00e0n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5427<\/span><rt>ba<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211\u4eec<\/span><rt>w\u01d2men<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e00\u8d77<\/span><rt>y\u00ecq\u01d0<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u53bb<\/span><rt>q\u00f9<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5403\u996d<\/span><rt>ch\u012bf\u00e0n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5427<\/span><rt>ba<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n            <span class=\"gloss\">Let&#8217;s have a meal together.<\/span>\n          <\/div>\n          <div class=\"example-row\">\n            <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4f60<\/span><rt>n\u01d0<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5403\u98ef<\/span><rt>ch\u012bf\u00e0n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u55ce<\/span><rt>ma<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\uff1f<\/span><rt><\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4f60<\/span><rt>n\u01d0<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5403\u996d<\/span><rt>ch\u012bf\u00e0n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5417<\/span><rt>ma<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\uff1f<\/span><rt><\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n            <span class=\"gloss\">Have you eaten?<\/span>\n          <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/section>\n\n  <div class=\"divider\"><\/div>\n\n  <section>\n    <p class=\"section-eyebrow\">Flexibility<\/p>\n    <h2 class=\"section-title\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_You_Change_the_Object\"><\/span>Can You Change the Object?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n    <div class=\"section-body\">\n      <p>\n        Yes \u2014 since the two halves can separate, the built-in object can be swapped for a more specific\n        one. This is exactly what lets <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u5403\u98ef<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u5403\u996d<\/span> ch\u012bf\u00e0n grow into naming a particular dish.\n      <\/p>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"example-list\">\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403\u98ef<\/span><rt>ch\u012bf\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403\u996d<\/span><rt>ch\u012bf\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">eating \u2014 general, no specific food in mind<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403<\/span><rt>ch\u012b<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u725b\u8089\u9eb5<\/span><rt>ni\u00far\u00f2umi\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u5403<\/span><rt>ch\u012b<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u725b\u8089\u9762<\/span><rt>ni\u00far\u00f2umi\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">eating beef noodle soup \u2014 specific<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u898b\u9762<\/span><rt>ji\u00e0nmi\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u89c1\u9762<\/span><rt>ji\u00e0nmi\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">to meet (someone)<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u898b<\/span><rt>ji\u00e0n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u670b\u53cb<\/span><rt>p\u00e9ngy\u01d2u<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u89c1<\/span><rt>ji\u00e0n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u670b\u53cb<\/span><rt>p\u00e9ngyou<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">meeting friends<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row wrong\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><span class=\"mark-x\">\u2717<\/span><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u898b\u9762<\/span><rt>ji\u00e0nmi\u00e0n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u670b\u53cb<\/span><rt>p\u00e9ngy\u01d2u<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u89c1\u9762<\/span><rt>ji\u00e0nmi\u00e0n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u670b\u53cb<\/span><rt>p\u00e9ngyou<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"note\">\u2014 a double object isn&#8217;t needed: \u898b\u9762 already carries its own built-in object.<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6559\u66f8<\/span><rt>ji\u0101osh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6559\u4e66<\/span><rt>ji\u0101osh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">teaching \u2014 general<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6559<\/span><rt>ji\u0101o<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e2d\u6587<\/span><rt>Zh\u014dngw\u00e9n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6559<\/span><rt>ji\u0101o<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e2d\u6587<\/span><rt>Zh\u014dngw\u00e9n<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">teaching Chinese<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row wrong\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><span class=\"mark-x\">\u2717<\/span><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u6559\u66f8<\/span><rt>ji\u0101osh\u016b<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e2d\u6587<\/span><rt>Zh\u014dngw\u00e9n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u6559\u4e66<\/span><rt>ji\u0101osh\u016b<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e2d\u6587<\/span><rt>Zh\u014dngw\u00e9n<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"note\">\u2014 same issue: <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u6559\u66f8<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u6559\u4e66<\/span> ji\u0101osh\u016b already has its object built in.<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <h3 class=\"subsection-title\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Object_Can_Move_to_the_Front_Too\"><\/span>The Object Can Move to the Front, Too<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n    <div class=\"section-body\">\n      <p>\n        Separable doesn&#8217;t just mean &#8220;something can slot in between&#8221; \u2014 the object can pull all the way\n        out to the front of the sentence, usually to make it the topic. This is a large part of what\n        the name &#8220;separable&#8221; is really pointing at.\n      <\/p>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"example-list\">\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u770b\u904e<\/span><rt>k\u00e0ngu\u00f2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u9019\u672c<\/span><rt>zh\u00e8 b\u011bn<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u66f8<\/span><rt>sh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u770b\u8fc7<\/span><rt>k\u00e0ngu\u00f2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8fd9\u672c<\/span><rt>zh\u00e8 b\u011bn<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e66<\/span><rt>sh\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">I&#8217;ve read this book. \u2014 neutral word order<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u9019\u672c<\/span><rt>zh\u00e8 b\u011bn<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u66f8<\/span><rt>sh\u016b<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u770b\u904e<\/span><rt>k\u00e0ngu\u00f2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8fd9\u672c<\/span><rt>zh\u00e8 b\u011bn<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e66<\/span><rt>sh\u016b<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u770b\u8fc7<\/span><rt>k\u00e0ngu\u00f2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">As for this book, I&#8217;ve read it. \u2014 object fronted as the topic<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/section>\n\n  <div class=\"divider\"><\/div>\n\n  <section>\n    <p class=\"section-eyebrow\">The exceptions<\/p>\n    <h2 class=\"section-title\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_All_Verbs_Use_the_VO_Structure\"><\/span>Do All Verbs Use the VO Structure?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n    <div class=\"section-body\">\n      <p>No. Roughly 10% of Chinese verbs never take an object at all, and some two-character verbs are single units rather than verb-object pairs.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <h3 class=\"subsection-title\" style=\"margin-top:0;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Verbs_That_Cant_Take_an_Object\"><\/span>Verbs That Can&#8217;t Take an Object<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n    <p class=\"idiom-list\" style=\"line-height:2; font-size:15.5px; margin-bottom:20px;\">\n      <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7562\u696d<\/span><rt>b\u00ecy\u00e8<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6bd5\u4e1a<\/span><rt>b\u00ecy\u00e8<\/rt><\/ruby><span style=\"color:var(--ink-soft); font-size:13.5px;\"> to graduate<\/span> \u00b7\n      <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u9032\u6b65<\/span><rt>j\u00ecnb\u00f9<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8fdb\u6b65<\/span><rt>j\u00ecnb\u00f9<\/rt><\/ruby><span style=\"color:var(--ink-soft); font-size:13.5px;\"> to improve<\/span> \u00b7\n      <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7b11<\/span><rt>xi\u00e0o<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7b11<\/span><rt>xi\u00e0o<\/rt><\/ruby><span style=\"color:var(--ink-soft); font-size:13.5px;\"> to laugh<\/span> \u00b7\n      <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u54ed<\/span><rt>k\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u54ed<\/span><rt>k\u016b<\/rt><\/ruby><span style=\"color:var(--ink-soft); font-size:13.5px;\"> to cry<\/span> \u00b7\n      <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u9072\u5230<\/span><rt>ch\u00edd\u00e0o<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8fdf\u5230<\/span><rt>ch\u00edd\u00e0o<\/rt><\/ruby><span style=\"color:var(--ink-soft); font-size:13.5px;\"> to be late<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <div class=\"example-list\">\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5927\u5b78<\/span><rt>d\u00e0xu\u00e9<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u7562\u696d<\/span><rt>b\u00ecy\u00e8<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5927\u5b66<\/span><rt>d\u00e0xu\u00e9<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u6bd5\u4e1a<\/span><rt>b\u00ecy\u00e8<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">I have graduated from college.<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4f60\u7684<\/span><rt>n\u01d0de<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e2d\u6587<\/span><rt>Zh\u014dngw\u00e9n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u9032\u6b65<\/span><rt>j\u00ecnb\u00f9<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f88<\/span><rt>h\u011bn<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u591a<\/span><rt>du\u014d<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4f60\u7684<\/span><rt>n\u01d0de<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e2d\u6587<\/span><rt>Zh\u014dngw\u00e9n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8fdb\u6b65<\/span><rt>j\u00ecnb\u00f9<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f88<\/span><rt>h\u011bn<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u591a<\/span><rt>du\u014d<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">Your Chinese has improved a lot.<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4f60<\/span><rt>n\u01d0<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u9072\u5230<\/span><rt>ch\u00edd\u00e0o<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f88<\/span><rt>h\u011bn<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e45<\/span><rt>ji\u01d4<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4f60<\/span><rt>n\u01d0<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8fdf\u5230<\/span><rt>ch\u00edd\u00e0o<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e86<\/span><rt>le<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5f88<\/span><rt>h\u011bn<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e45<\/span><rt>ji\u01d4<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">You have been late for a long time.<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <h3 class=\"subsection-title\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Two-Character_Verbs_That_Arent_VO_Pairs\"><\/span>Two-Character Verbs That Aren&#8217;t VO Pairs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n    <p class=\"idiom-list\" style=\"line-height:2; font-size:15.5px; margin-bottom:20px;\">\n      <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4f11\u606f<\/span><rt>xi\u016bx\u00ed<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4f11\u606f<\/span><rt>xi\u016bx\u00ed<\/rt><\/ruby><span style=\"color:var(--ink-soft); font-size:13.5px;\"> to rest<\/span> \u00b7\n      <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8a0e\u8ad6<\/span><rt>t\u01ceol\u00f9n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8ba8\u8bba<\/span><rt>t\u01ceol\u00f9n<\/rt><\/ruby><span style=\"color:var(--ink-soft); font-size:13.5px;\"> to discuss<\/span> \u00b7\n      <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7df4\u7fd2<\/span><rt>li\u00e0nx\u00ed<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u7ec3\u4e60<\/span><rt>li\u00e0nx\u00ed<\/rt><\/ruby><span style=\"color:var(--ink-soft); font-size:13.5px;\"> to practice<\/span> \u00b7\n      <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u559c\u6b61<\/span><rt>x\u01d0hu\u0101n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u559c\u6b22<\/span><rt>x\u01d0huan<\/rt><\/ruby><span style=\"color:var(--ink-soft); font-size:13.5px;\"> to like<\/span> \u00b7\n      <ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8a0e\u53ad<\/span><rt>t\u01ceoy\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8ba8\u538c<\/span><rt>t\u01ceoy\u00e0n<\/rt><\/ruby><span style=\"color:var(--ink-soft); font-size:13.5px;\"> to hate<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n    <div class=\"example-list\">\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4f60<\/span><rt>n\u01d0<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u60f3<\/span><rt>xi\u01ceng<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8a0e\u8ad6<\/span><rt>t\u01ceol\u00f9n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u9019\u4ef6<\/span><rt>zh\u00e8ji\u00e0n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e8b<\/span><rt>sh\u00ec<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u55ce<\/span><rt>ma<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\uff1f<\/span><rt><\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u4f60<\/span><rt>n\u01d0<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u60f3<\/span><rt>xi\u01ceng<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8ba8\u8bba<\/span><rt>t\u01ceol\u00f9n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8fd9\u4ef6<\/span><rt>zh\u00e8ji\u00e0n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e8b<\/span><rt>sh\u00ec<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u5417<\/span><rt>ma<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\uff1f<\/span><rt><\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">Do you want to discuss this matter?<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8acb<\/span><rt>q\u01d0ng<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u56de\u5bb6<\/span><rt>hu\u00edji\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u7df4\u7fd2<\/span><rt>li\u00e0nx\u00ed<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e2d\u6587<\/span><rt>Zh\u014dngw\u00e9n<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u8bf7<\/span><rt>q\u01d0ng<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u56de\u5bb6<\/span><rt>hu\u00edji\u0101<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u7ec3\u4e60<\/span><rt>li\u00e0nx\u00ed<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4e2d\u6587<\/span><rt>Zh\u014dngw\u00e9n<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">Please go home and practice Chinese.<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"example-row\">\n        <span class=\"zh-block\"><ruby class=\"lang-zh-TW\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8a0e\u53ad<\/span><rt>t\u01ceoy\u00e0n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4f60<\/span><rt>n\u01d0<\/rt><\/ruby><ruby class=\"lang-zh-CN\"><span class=\"rb\">\u6211<\/span><rt>w\u01d2<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u8ba8\u538c<\/span><rt>t\u01ceoy\u00e0n<\/rt><span class=\"rb\">\u4f60<\/span><rt>n\u01d0<\/rt><\/ruby><\/span>\n        <span class=\"gloss\">I hate you.<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"section-body\">\n      <p style=\"font-style:italic; color: var(--ink-soft); font-size: 14px;\">\n        Unlike <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u8dd1\u6b65<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u8dd1\u6b65<\/span> p\u01ceob\u00f9 or <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u5403\u98ef<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u5403\u996d<\/span> ch\u012bf\u00e0n, these already take an object directly after them \u2014 nothing needs to be\n        inserted, because they were never split in two to begin with.\n      <\/p>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/section>\n\n\n\n<\/article>\n\n<script>\n\/*\n  Applies the site's lang_zh-TW cookie on page load (see lang-selector\n  widget) directly to this post's .lang-zh-TW \/ .lang-zh-CN elements,\n  since the widget's own \"on load\" handler only updates its menu\n  pointers, not the actual display. Cookie convention: \"1\" = Traditional,\n  \"0\" = Simplified.\n*\/\n(function(){\n  var post = document.currentScript ? document.currentScript.closest('.odd-post') : document.querySelector('.odd-post');\n  if(!post) return;\n\n  function getCookie(name){\n    var m = document.cookie.match(new RegExp('(?:^|; )' + name.replace(\/([.$?*|{}()\\[\\]\\\\\\\/\\+^])\/g, '\\\\$1') + '=([^;]*)'));\n    return m ? decodeURIComponent(m[1]) : null;\n  }\n\n  var showSimplified = getCookie('lang_zh-TW') === '0';\n  var hideClass = showSimplified ? 'lang-zh-TW' : 'lang-zh-CN';\n  var showClass = showSimplified ? 'lang-zh-CN' : 'lang-zh-TW';\n\n  post.querySelectorAll('.' + hideClass).forEach(function(el){ el.style.display = 'none'; });\n  post.querySelectorAll('.' + showClass).forEach(function(el){ el.style.display = ''; });\n})();\n<\/script>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-medium is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/tiffanystalk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"58\" src=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-300x58.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-570\" style=\"width:150px;height:29px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-300x58.png 300w, https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-600x115.png 600w, https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-1024x197.png 1024w, https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-768x148.png 768w, https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-1536x296.png 1536w, https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-2048x394.png 2048w, https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-850x164.png 850w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Do you like it? \ud83d\ude42<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-medium is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/foundation\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"86\" src=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/e68f92e59c963-300x86.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-571\" style=\"width:150px;height:43px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/e68f92e59c963-300x86.png 300w, https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/e68f92e59c963-600x171.png 600w, https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/e68f92e59c963.png 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A field guide for learners Chinese Separable Verbs Some of the most basic verbs you&#8217;ll learn \u2014 \u7761\u89bashu\u00ecji\u00e0o\u7761\u89c9shu\u00ecji\u00e0o &#8220;to sleep,&#8221; \u5403\u98efch\u012bf\u00e0n\u5403\u996dch\u012bf\u00e0n &#8220;to eat,&#8221; \u770b\u66f8k\u00e0nsh\u016b\u770b\u4e66k\u00e0nsh\u016b &#8220;to read&#8221; \u2014 aren&#8217;t single words at all. Each one is a verb fused to an object, and the two can pull apart whenever a sentence needs room for more detail&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16],"tags":[497,499],"class_list":["post-8381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hsk1","tag-separable-verbs","tag-vo-structure"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Chinese Separable Verbs - OneDotDot Chinese<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how Chinese separable verbs work, including common verbs like \u7761\u89c9, \u89c1\u9762, \u6d17\u6fa1, and \u5e2e\u5fd9. Understand how to separate them and use objects, measure words, and aspect markers correctly.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chinese Separable Verbs - OneDotDot Chinese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn how Chinese separable verbs work, including common verbs like \u7761\u89c9, \u89c1\u9762, \u6d17\u6fa1, and \u5e2e\u5fd9. Understand how to separate them and use objects, measure words, and aspect markers correctly.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OneDotDot Chinese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-11T15:24:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-21T08:39:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-300x58.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tiffany\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tiffany\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/index.php\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/11\\\/separable-verbs\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/index.php\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/11\\\/separable-verbs\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"tiffany\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3556e1160fac98b190d03b8aa8604d99\"},\"headline\":\"Chinese Separable Verbs\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-11T15:24:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-21T08:39:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/index.php\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/11\\\/separable-verbs\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1711,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3556e1160fac98b190d03b8aa8604d99\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/index.php\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/11\\\/separable-verbs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-300x58.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Separable Verbs\",\"VO structure\"],\"articleSection\":[\"HSK 1\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/index.php\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/11\\\/separable-verbs\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/index.php\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/11\\\/separable-verbs\\\/\",\"name\":\"Chinese Separable Verbs - OneDotDot Chinese\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/index.php\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/11\\\/separable-verbs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/index.php\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/11\\\/separable-verbs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-300x58.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-11T15:24:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-21T08:39:02+00:00\",\"description\":\"Learn how Chinese separable verbs work, including common verbs like \u7761\u89c9, \u89c1\u9762, \u6d17\u6fa1, and \u5e2e\u5fd9. Understand how to separate them and use objects, measure words, and aspect markers correctly.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/index.php\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/11\\\/separable-verbs\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/index.php\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/11\\\/separable-verbs\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/index.php\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/11\\\/separable-verbs\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x.png\",\"width\":3050,\"height\":587},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/index.php\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/11\\\/separable-verbs\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9801\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chinese Separable Verbs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"OneDotDot Chinese\",\"description\":\"Learn a little Chinese every day\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3556e1160fac98b190d03b8aa8604d99\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3556e1160fac98b190d03b8aa8604d99\",\"name\":\"tiffany\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/cropped-logo_tiffany2-1.png\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/cropped-logo_tiffany2-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/cropped-logo_tiffany2-1.png\",\"width\":214,\"height\":214,\"caption\":\"tiffany\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/cropped-logo_tiffany2-1.png\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/tiffanys_talk\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/tiffany-huang-mandarin\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tiffanysmandarin.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/tiffany\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chinese Separable Verbs - OneDotDot Chinese","description":"Learn how Chinese separable verbs work, including common verbs like \u7761\u89c9, \u89c1\u9762, \u6d17\u6fa1, and \u5e2e\u5fd9. Understand how to separate them and use objects, measure words, and aspect markers correctly.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chinese Separable Verbs - OneDotDot Chinese","og_description":"Learn how Chinese separable verbs work, including common verbs like \u7761\u89c9, \u89c1\u9762, \u6d17\u6fa1, and \u5e2e\u5fd9. Understand how to separate them and use objects, measure words, and aspect markers correctly.","og_url":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/","og_site_name":"OneDotDot Chinese","article_published_time":"2023-06-11T15:24:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-21T08:39:02+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-300x58.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"tiffany","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"tiffany","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/"},"author":{"name":"tiffany","@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3556e1160fac98b190d03b8aa8604d99"},"headline":"Chinese Separable Verbs","datePublished":"2023-06-11T15:24:44+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-21T08:39:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/"},"wordCount":1711,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3556e1160fac98b190d03b8aa8604d99"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-300x58.png","keywords":["Separable Verbs","VO structure"],"articleSection":["HSK 1"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/","url":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/","name":"Chinese Separable Verbs - OneDotDot Chinese","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-300x58.png","datePublished":"2023-06-11T15:24:44+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-21T08:39:02+00:00","description":"Learn how Chinese separable verbs work, including common verbs like \u7761\u89c9, \u89c1\u9762, \u6d17\u6fa1, and \u5e2e\u5fd9. Understand how to separate them and use objects, measure words, and aspect markers correctly.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x.png","width":3050,"height":587},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/11\/separable-verbs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9801","item":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chinese Separable Verbs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/","name":"OneDotDot Chinese","description":"Learn a little Chinese every day","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3556e1160fac98b190d03b8aa8604d99"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3556e1160fac98b190d03b8aa8604d99","name":"tiffany","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-logo_tiffany2-1.png","url":"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-logo_tiffany2-1.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-logo_tiffany2-1.png","width":214,"height":214,"caption":"tiffany"},"logo":{"@id":"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-logo_tiffany2-1.png"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tiffanys_talk\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tiffany-huang-mandarin\/"],"url":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/author\/tiffany\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8381"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15747,"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8381\/revisions\/15747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}