The Construction

 

Exercises

 

Please note: it is important that one should learn and practise resultative and directional complements before starting on the construction.

 

Other terminology: (verb predicate) sentences/ the use of the preposition (or co-verb) / the use of the pre-transitive / 把字句

 

1. When can I use sentences?

 

  • can be used when you want to deal with or to dispose of a particular object.

A verb in the construction changes the form, situation or direction of the object. Verbs in constructions are in complex forms. They are usually verbs of method of action plus other elements.

 

  • 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:

tā   hē   wán    jiŭ    le

      完        了。

HE  DRINK FINISH WINE  LE

 

The resultative complement (to complete) can refer either to the object or

to the verb , 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 construction, the meaning is clearer:

HE 

bă   jiŭ  

 

BA WINE

hē     wán   le

          

DRINK FINISH  LE

 He has drunk up all the wine.

 

The above example shows that the element (attached to the main verb ) 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 construction is used. Let’s compare the following patterns:

  

Patterns in English

Patterns in Chinese 

v.                  dir.o.                   indir.o.

  dir.o.   v.     c.  indir.o.

...to change   sth.      INTO   sth. else

  sth.          sth. else

...to cut          a cake    into    4 pieces.

 蛋糕   切       四块

...to translate  English  into   Chinese

 英文  翻译成   汉语

...to take        sth.        TO     swh.

  sth.          swh. /

...to take        the TV     to      the bedroom

  电视       卧室去

...to take        sth.        TO      sb.

  sth.          sb.

...to deliver    a book     to      Mr. Li

             李先生

...to put         sth. AT/ IN/ ON/...sth. else

  sth.         sth. else

...to put       the paper         on    the table

        放   

...to post       sth.        BACK TO    swh.

  sth.        swh.

...to send     the money back to China           

            中国

...to take       sth.     IN TO       swh.

  sth.   拿      swh .    

...to take    the book  in to        the room

              房间     

                       

As you can see the resultative complements (to become) INTO; (to arrive)

TO [a place]; (to give) TO [a person], (to be) AT, IN, ON, UNDER and the

combined directional complements 回去 / (back) BACK TO can all be used in the above sentences. 

 

2. How can I form a sentence with ?

 

As you can see from the above examples, the objects which you want to dispose of are placed after , 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 construction?

 

The elements which can be attached to the main verbs in sentences are: (Place the mouse on the following words to view the examples and click on the words to read the explanations.)

 

  1. Resultative complements (apart from )
  2. Directional complements
  3. (complement of degree) constructions
  4. 一下 (or verb)
  5. Time/action measures
  6. The particle

 

4. Apart from a subject of a sentence, what other elements can be placed before ?

 

The following should be placed before :

 

  1. Modal verbs or auxiliary verbs such as , , , , 可以 and 应该
  2. Adverbs such as 常常, 总是, , and 已经
  3. Negatives. The negative form for sentences is 没有 or . can only be used in  hypothetical conditional sentences. For example

yàoshi nĭ bù bă jīntiān de hàn  zi          xué  hăo wŏ  jiù bu gĕi nī   chī   fàn                  

      今天      字                           饭。

IF           YOU  NOTBA TODAY DE CHINESE WORDS STUDY WELL  I   JIU NOT  GIVE YOU EAT MEAL

If you don't learn today's Chinese characters, I won't give you a meal.

 

5. Where should the negation be placed if the (complement of degree) construction is used a sentence?

 

The negative is normally placed before adverbs in (complement of degree) sentences. For example:

zuótiān     tā  fángjiān  zhĕnglĭ de bù   hăo

昨天        房间        整理           好。

YESTERDAY HE ROOM           TIDY          DE NOT GOOD

He didn't tidy the room well yesterday.

 

If is involved in (complement of degree) sentences, should be placed before , instead of putting the negative before the adverb :

zuótiān     tā  méi bă fángjiān zhĕnglĭ dehĕn hăo

昨天        他      房间       整理       

YESTERDAY HE  NOT  BA   ROOM          TIDY     DE   VERY GOOD

 

This sentence places more emphasis than previous one on the object 房间.


The following words can be placed either before
or before main verbs.

 

  1. Adverbs which are used to describe actions such as 认真地...
  2. Co-verbs (or prepositions) such as , , ...一起...

   

There are two patterns for the construction, as demonstrated in the following sections.

Pattern one with only one object

 

s.

m.v/co-v./adv./neg.    

(complex) o.

v. + resultative compl directional compl.

construction一下/verb action/time measure

 

HE

méi

NOT

BA

(nĭ  zuò  de)    fàn

(   )      

(YOU COOK DE)    MEAL      

chī     wán

   

EAT    FINISH

He didn't finish eating the meal (that you had cooked).

SHE

xiăoxīn de

小心    

CAREFUL DE

BA

diànshì  

        

T.V.                    

 bān chū qu    le

           

MOVE  OUT (AWAY) LE

She has carefully moved the TV set out (of the room).

SHE

yīnggāi

应该

SHOULD

BA

fángjiān

房间

ROOM

zhĕnglĭ de hĕn  zhĕngqí

整理        整齐

TIDY         DE  VERY NEAT

She should tidy the room (so that it is) clean.

HE

tì    wŏ

 

FOR  ME

 

BA

zhuōzi

 

TABLE

cā   le  yíxià

  一下

WIPE LE YI XIA

He has wiped the table for me.

SHE

 

BA

(nà   bĕn) shū

(   )

(THAT BEN) BOOK

kàn le sān     biàn

   了三      

READ LE THREE TIMES

She has read that book three times.       

HE

yòu 

 

AGAIN    

BA

mén

DOOR

kāi  zhe le

    着

OPEN ZHE LE

He has left the door open again.

 

Pattern two with a direct and an indirect object

 

s.

[As in pattern one]

ba

dir.o.

v. +      compl.(1)  indir.o.     compl.(2)

SHE

 

BA

yī fu

衣服

CLOTHES

ná     jìn   wū     qù      le

                   了。

TAKE   IN     HOUSE  (AWAY)LE

She has taken the clothes into the house.

xiăowáng

XIAOWANG

 

BA

xiăolĭ

小李

XIAOLI

tuī   chū   fángjiān  lái         le

                       了。

PUSH OUT    ROOM       (TOWARDS) LE

Xiao Wang pushed Xiao Li out of the room.

HE

 

BA

xìn

LETTER

jì     dào   Yīngguó  qù        le

   *                  了。

POST TO     ENGLAND       (AWAY) LE

He has posted the letter to England.

YOU

bié

DON'T

BA

bĕnzi      

本子

NOTEBOOK

fàng  zài     yĭ zi       xià

     **   椅子       

PUT     ZAI        CHAIR      UNDER 

Don't put the notebook under the chair.


6. Sometimes a sentence contains only a simple main verb and the particle . Does that mean that any simple verb + can be used in sentences?

 

No, it doesn't always work in this way. has two functions here:

 

  • Its meaning is similar to the resultative complements (to complete) (to be satisfactory) (to be away) and (to get rid of)
  • It still plays the role of the particle for completed action. You will often see this usage in colloquial language,

tā   bă  jiŭ    hē    le

         

HE  BA   WINE DRINK LE

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 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

                        了。

SHE  BA THAT  BEN   BOOK READ FINISH LE

She has finished reading that book.

Abstract object:           

nĭ  bă   zhè  jiàn shì     bàn  yí xià

                

YOU BA THIS JIAN MATTER  DEAL YIXIA

Could you deal with that matter?
8. What shouldn't be used in sentences?

 

  • can't be used when you use sensory complements such as or : 看见/看到 (to see), 听见/听到 (to hear) and 碰见/碰到 (to bump into). One can't say:

                                                            昨天我把小王看见了

 

Instead one should say:

zuótiān   wŏ kànjiàn xiăo  wáng le

昨天       看见                 了。

YESTERDAY I   SEE           XIAO      WANG LE

I saw XiaoWang yesterday.

 

  • can't be used when you use the complement to imply reaching a level or time (the direct object of the sentence). One can't say:

                  

                                                              我们把第三课学到了

 

Instead one should say:

wŏ men xué dào   dì    sān  kè    le

           了。

WE     LEARN TO 3RD    LESSON LE

We have reached lesson 3.

 

Please note: can be used if the complement 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  nà  bĕn  shū  măi dào         le

                            了。

I     BA    THAT BEN BOOK BUY  GET HOLD OF LE

I've bought that book.

 

The complement can also be used in a construction if the sentence has a direct and indirect object and the indirect object is a place. or should be preceded by the place,

wŏbă xìn    sòng    dào xiăowáng jiā   qù 

              到                

I   BA LETTER DELIVER  TO XIAO WANG      HOME GO

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 construction can't be used. One can't say:

                   X小王把那件事知道了一年  

 

Instead one should say:

xiăowáng zhīdào nà  jiànshì         yì  nián   le

         知道                        了。

XIAO WANG   KNOW  THAT  JIAN MATTER  ONE YEAR   LE

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 construction can't be used. One can't say:

                                                她把饭吃不完

Instead one should say:

tā  bù  néng bă fàn  chī  wán

               

SHE NOT CAN  BA RICE     EAT FINISH

She can't finish the rice.

 

  • The verbs which appear on the lists of resultative and directional complements (see tables of Resultative and Directional Complements) can’t be used as the MAIN verbs of sentences in the construction.  They refer to either the result or the direction of actions, but not the method of actions. One can't say:

                                                X你把这个课文懂了没有?

 

Instead one should say:

zhè  ge  kèwén nĭ  dŏng       le   méiyou

     课文                   没有?

THIS  GE  LESSON YOU UNDERSTAND LE  NOT

Do you understand this lesson?

 

One can't say:

                                                            X她把书回去了X

Instead one should say:

tā   bă  shū  ná    huí   qù       le

                      了。

SHE  BA BOOK  TAKE BACK  (AWAY)  LE

She has taken back that book.

 

  • A verb which has no other element attached to it can't be used in the construction. (See Pattern One for the list of elements.) One can't say:

                                                 

                                                            你能把作业作吗?

 

Instead one should say:

nĭ  néng bă  zuòyè      zuò  yíxià  ma

       作业           一下 ?

YOU CAN  BA   HOMEWORK  DO  YIXIA      MA

Could you do the homework for a little while?

 

  • The particle (for experience in the past) is not used in sentences. One wouldn't normally say:

                                                            我把那本书看过一遍

 

Instead one would say:

wŏ bă nà bĕn shū kàn le     yíbiàn

                 一遍

I  BA  THAT BEN BOOK  READ LE      ONCE

I've read through that book once.

 

9. When can I avoid using ?

 

  • When a sentence has only one object you can avoid the construction by placing the object in front of the subject, but it may sound very stilted. Let’s look at the following examples.

fángjiān qĭng nĭ zhĕnglĭ yíxià         qĭng   nĭ   bă   fángjiān zhĕnglĭ yíxià

         你    一下            你    房间       整理     一下

ROOM   PLEASE YOU  TIDY      YI XIA              PLEASE YOU BA ROOM          TIDY         YIXIA

Please tidy up the room.

 

Exercises

 

 You can submit your work online here

 

Click here for answers

Which of the following sentences can be turned into sentences?

 

  1. 你听见他说的话没有?
  2. 他作完今天的练习了。
  3. 我看懂了那句很难的句子。
  4. 昨天他整理房间整理得真漂亮。
  5. 我一个人吃不了那么多东西。
  6. 你给他生日礼物了没有?
  7. 小王买到了那本书没有?
  8. 我们学到第几课啊?

 

Translate the following sentences into Chinese.

 

  1. He told Xiao Wang about that (matter).
  2. Could you bring that letter over here? Let me have a look.
  3. Where did you put my trousers? I can't find them anywhere.
  4. My students often write instead of . They are really careless.
  5. She carefully divided the dish into two halves and left one half for the next day.
  6. Mr. Wang didn't explain the sentences clearly.
  7. My friend has taken away the TV set which was in my room.
  8. Your Chinese doctor friend has sent the letter that you wrote the day before yesterday to China.
  9. You didn't write these sentences correctly.

 

Write Chinese sentences with the following information.

 

  1. Mr. Wang, the table, out of the window, throw ( rēng).
  2. He, room, pink, to paint ( qī).
  3. His girlfriend, light, to switch on.
  4. He, telephone, his boyfriend’s place, to phone.
  5. Xiao Ding, trousers, his house, to forget.
  6. You, book, page 11, to turn.

 

 


 

*. If the complement is used, or should be placed after the

indirect object, ...拿到教室里去. (...Take it to the classroom.)

**. If the complement is used, ,,,, or should be placed after

the indirect object, except where the names of places and 这儿, 那儿, are involved

...  bă        zì             xiĕ        zài  bĕnzi             shàng                 nĭ      bù néng       bă  zhĭ        diū       zài   zhèr

...                   本子        上。             不能                   这儿。

  ...BA      WORD WRITE ZAI NOTEBOOK ON                    YOU NOT  CAN BA PAPER DROP ZAI  HERE

...Write the words on the notebook.                 You can't drop paper here.