LEARN + CHINESE / 174 of 300 HSK 5
When the Object Takes the Action 宾语
“The guests arrived.” There’s no one acting on the guests; they are the ones who arrived. In Chinese, an object can name the doer or the way an action happens, as well as the thing acted on. With several details in one sentence, time usually comes before place and manner.
门口来了一位客人，大家快去看看。
ménkǒu lái le yí wèi kèrén, dàjiā kuài qù kànkan.
A guest has arrived at the door; everyone, go take a look.
我昨天在书店买了一本关于旅行的书。
wǒ zuótiān zài shūdiàn mǎi le yì běn guānyú lǚxíng de shū.
I bought a book about travel at the bookstore yesterday.
妹妹今天在图书馆认真地准备考试。
mèimei jīntiān zài túshūguǎn rènzhēn de zhǔnbèi kǎoshì.
My younger sister is studying carefully at the library today.
我们上周特意去市场买了新鲜的鱼。
wǒmen shàng zhōu tèyì qù shìchǎng mǎi le xīnxiān de yú.
We made a special trip to the market last week to buy fresh fish.
Hint · 힌트
In 来了一位客人, 客人 is the object in the sentence but also the person who arrives. In 买了一本书, the book is the thing affected by the action. In the last examples, time, place, and manner details build up before the main action.
Vocabulary
| Chinese | English |
|---|---|
ménkǒu | doorway |
lái | to come; arrive |
kèrén | guest |
wèi | measure word for people |
zuótiān | yesterday |
shūdiàn | bookstore |
mǎi | to buy |
guānyú | about; regarding |
lǚxíng | travel; to travel |
běn | measure word for books |
mèimei | younger sister |
jīntiān | today |
túshūguǎn | library |
rènzhēn | carefully; serious |
zhǔnbèi | to prepare |
kǎoshì | exam; to take an exam |
shàng zhōu | last week |
tèyì | specially; on purpose |
shìchǎng | market |
xīnxiān | fresh |
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