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Co-verbs Co-verbs are a group of verbs that often act as prepositions in a clause with another verb, though they can act as verbs in their own right (prepositional constructions I, p. 155). Amongst them are: - Zai 在 ‘to be at, be in, at, in, on’ He is in China 他在中国 He studies at the Foreign Languages Institute 他在外语学院学习 Gei 给 ‘to, for (for indirect objects), to give to’ He gives me books 他给我书 He introduced me to his friend 他给我介绍他的朋友 Yong 用 ‘by means of, to use’ He is using a Chinese dictionary 他用汉语词典 He reads the newspaper with [the help of]a dictionary 他用词典看报
Other co-verbs: Ti 替 ‘for, as a substitute for’ He is taking my place 他替我 I am writing a letter for my mother 我替我妈妈写信 Some co-verbs are almost always used in prepositional phrases, and only usually act as verbs in their own right with complements attached. Dui 对 ‘Concerning, vis-a-vis, to be in front of , facing something/one’ He was facing the dormitory 他对着宿舍 He is very good to students 他对学生很好 Gen 跟 ‘in company with, to follow’ I follow my students to the Institute 我跟着我的学生 I am going to the shops with my students 我跟我的学生去商店 NB all co-verb constructions will come before the main verb in the way that prepositional or adverbial phrases come before the verbs they modify.
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