Dative verbs

There are a few dative verbs which take two objects in the order indirect object followed by direct object.

 Jiljie gLi mèimei (The) elder sister gave (her)

 5 yc hé táng. younger sister a box of sweets.

 Ta sòng wn yc zhc He gave me a pen [as a gift].

 !5 gangbm.

 Wn huán ta I gave him back [his] two pounds.

 5 likng bàng qián.

Note: As we can see from the examples above and also those given below, aspect marker
le can generally be omitted with dative verbs indicating com-pleted actions. But see also 8.5.2.

Certain action verbs with
gli [to give] as a sufyx follow the same pattern:

 ! Ta jiAo gLi wn She handed in a composition

 !5 yc pian zuòwén. to me.

Verbs and aspect markers

64 II Verbs

 ! Wn dì gLi ta I passed him two letters.

 5 likng fbng xìn.

 ! Tamen dài gLi They brought me a bouquet

 !5 wn yc shù hua. of zowers.

This dative construction may be reversed with the subject of the verb becoming the recipient:

 ! Wn shDudào ta (lit. I receive her one mw letter)

 5 yc fbng xìn. I received a letter from her.

 !" Wn dédào tamen (lit. I get them very much help)

 !5 hlndud bangzhù. I got a lot of help from them.

8.5.1 Dative verbs relating to spoken activity

Some verbs relating to spoken activity may also be used in a dative construction:

 !"#5 Tamen jiào wn Lko Lm. They call me Old Li.

 !"#$5 Ta gàosù wn yc jiàn shì. He told me something.

 ! Lkoshc wèn wn The teacher asked me

 !5 yc gè wèntí. a question.

Note: An idiom with
wèn in the dative construction is
 !"5 Wn bàba wèn nm hko. [My father sends you his regards.]

8.5.2 Dative verbs and aspect markers

The aspect markers
le,
guo and occasionally (
)
(zhèng) zài may occur with dative verbs but not D zhe.

 ! Ta jièguo nm qián (lit. He borrow asp you money

 9 méiynu? not-have) Has he ever borrowed money from you?

 !" Tamen sòngle (lit. they give asp me one mw

 !" wn yc gè jmngtàilán cloisonné vase) They gave me a

5 huapíng. cloisonné vase.

(
)
 Ta (zhèng) zài (lit. she (just) asp:

in-the-
 !5 jiao wnmen process-of teach us English) Ycngyo. She is teaching us English now.

Note: For a further discussion of dative constructions, see 21.4.

65 8.6 Causative verbs

There are a number of causative verbs like
cuc [urge]
jiào [tell],

 mìnglìng [order],
 dàilmng [guide], [lead], etc. in the language.

These verbs take objects which are usually human or animate beings and can therefore engender further actions on their own under the verbal or physical instigation or manoeuvre initiated by the subject (for details, see 21.5):

 Gbge cuC wn (lit. elder brother urge me go

 5 qù bàomíng. register/put one]s name down) (My) elder brother urged me to go and register/put my name down.

 Ta yào wn (lit. she want me help her) She

 5 bangzhù ta. wants/wanted me to help her.

 !" Xuéxiào (lit. school require us wear school

 !5 yAoqiú wnmen uniform) The school requires chuan xiàofú. us to wear school uniform.

/
Jiljie lA/tuC wn (lit. elder sister pull/push me get

 !5 shàngle chb. on asp bus/train) (My) elder sister pulled/pushed me on to the bus/train.

We can see from these examples that causative verbs themselves do not normally incorporate aspect markers whether they indicate past, progressive, completed or habitual action; but if the second verb in the construction indicates completed action, it can take the aspect marker
le.

Note also that in some cases an action verb may be used as either a dative or a causative verb:

 (
) Tamen bang(le) (lit. they help (asp) me a lot

 !5 wn hlndud máng. busy-ness) They gave me a lot (dative verb) of help.

 ! Tamen bang wn (lit. they help me do asp a lot

 ! bànle hlndud shìr. things) They helped me deal

5 (causative verb) with a lot of things.

 Lkoshc jiao(le) (lit. teacher teach (asp) us one (
)
 wnmen yc shnu mw song) The teacher taught us

 5 gb. (dative verb) a song.

Verbs and aspect markers

66 II Verbs

 Lkoshc jiao wnmen (lit. teacher teach us sing asp

 ! chàngle yc shnu gb. one mw song) The teacher

 5 (causative verb) taught us to sing a song.

8.7 Imperatives

Action verbs, dative verbs and causative verbs may also be used in imperatives. In these sentences the subject (apart from
 zánmen [we] inclusive or
 wnmen [we]) is generally omitted, and the par-ticle
ba is often added at the end to connote suggestion:

(
)
ChC (yc) diknr rolào (lit. eat (a) little cheese p)

 !5 ba. (action verb) Have a bit of cheese.

 Zánmen dK (yc ) (lit. we hit (a) game basketball (
)
chkng lánqiú ba. p) Let]s have a game of

 5 (action verb) basketball.

 ! GLi wn yc bbi (lit. give me one glass

orange-
 !5 júzishum ba. juice p) Give me a glass (dative verb) of orange juice.

 ! Sòng ta yc píng (lit. give-as-a-gift him one bottle

5 jio ba. (dative verb) wine/spirit p) Give him a bottle of wine/spirits.

 ! Jiao wnmen dk (lit. teach us hit shadow-boxing

 !5 tàijíquán ba. p) Teach us (to do) shadow (causative verb) boxing.

 ! Tíxmng ta qù dbngjì (lit. remind him go register p)

 5 ba. (causative verb) Remind him to go and register.

Without the particle
ba, imperatives are more like commands:

8 Guò lái! (lit. across come)

Come (over) here!

 8 Zhàn qm lái! (lit. stand up-come) Stand up!

 8 Bié sa hukng! (lit. don]t tell lie) Don]t lie/tell lies.

 8 Bié luànlái! (lit. don]t confusion come) Don]t do/touch it [because I know you]ll make a mess of it].

Note: For negative commands, see 15.2 (6).

67 8.7.1 Polite requests

Polite requests may be expressed by using
qmng [please] at the begin-ning of the imperative with or without the second person pronoun and the particle
ba (see 21.5.1):

(
)
QMng (nm) shud (lit. please (you) speak English (p))

(
)5 Ycngwén (ba). Please speak English.

 !5 QMng gbn (lit. please follow me come) wn lái. Please follow me.

(
)
5 QMng (nm) (lit. please (you) excuse) yuánliàng. Please forgive me.

8 qmng zuò! (lit. please sit) Please sit down.

8.7.2 Imperatives and aspect markers

The aspect marker D zhe (not
le,
guo or
zài) may be used in imperatives to imply that the action is expected to be continued in some way. In these cases the verb is generally monosyllabic:

D
5/ Fàngzhe ba/ (lit. put asp p) Keep it.

D
5 Liúzhe ba.

D
5 Dàizhe ba. (lit. carry asp p) Bring [it] with you.

D5 Qmng dlngzhe. (lit. please wait asp) Please wait.

9 Motion verbs and direction indicators 9.1 Motion verbs and simple direction indicators

There are a number of common motion verbs in Chinese, which ex-press not only motion but also direction. They may be used transitively or intransitively and they fall naturally into two groups:

(1) The yrst group consists of the two basic verbs
lái [come] and

qù [go]:

5 Wn lái. I]ll come.

 !5 Tamen bù lái. They won]t come.

 5 Wn bù qù. I won]t go.

 5 Tamen qù. They]ll go.

Motion verbs and direction indicators

68 II Verbs

Used transitively, these can take location objects:

 !"5 Ta lái wN zhèr. She]ll come to my place.

 !"5 Wnmen qù BLijCng. We are going to Beijing.

(2) The second group comprises a number of verbs which regularly precede
lái and
qù to express movement in particular directions. Linked with
lái they indicate movement towards the speaker, and with
qù movement away from the speaker:

(a)
shàng [upwards]:

 !5 Ta shàng lái le. She came up.

 !5 Ta shàng qù le. He went up.

If used transitively, the location object is always placed between the verb and
=lái or
=qù:

 !"5 Ta shàng lóu lái le. She came upstairs.

 !"5 Ta shàng lóu qù le. He went upstairs.

Note: The particle
le which comes at the end of these sentences has the simultaneous functions of aspect marker and sentence particle (see 16.2.2).

(b)
=xià [downwards]:

 !"5 Tamen xià lái le. They came down.

 !"5 Tamen xià qù le. They went down.

 ! Tamen xià They came downstairs.

5 lóu lái le.

 ! Tamen xià They went downstairs.

5 lóu qù le.

(c)
=guò [across or over a distance]:

 5 Qmng guò lái. Please come over (here).

 5 Qmng guò qù. Please go over (there).

 ! Qìchb guò The car has come

5 qiáo lái le. over the bridge.

69

 Chuán guò The boat has gone

5 hé qù le. across to the other side of the river.

(d)
huí [returning to a place]:

 !5 Mama huí lái le. Mother has come back.

 !5 Yéye huí qù le. Grandfather has gone back.

 Bàba huí jia lái le. Father has come

5 home.

 !" Dàshm huí The ambassador has

5 Lúnden qù le. gone back to London.

(e)
=jìn [entering]:

 5 Qmng jìn lái. Please come in.

 5 Qmng jìn qù. Please go in.

 Kèren jìn The guest(s) came into

 !5 wezi lái le. the room.

 Nkinai jìn Grandmother has gone

 5 chéng qù le. to town.

(f)
=che [exiting]:

 Nw zhorén The hostess came out.

 5 chE lái le.

 !"5 Lkobkn chE qù le. The boss has gone out.

Note:
che is seldom used transitively with
lái or
qù, but there are established phrases such as:

 !"5 Ta chE mén qù le. (lit. She out door go p) She is away.

(g)
qm [directly upwards]:

 !5 Dìdi qM lái le. My younger brother has got up.

Note:
Qm does not occur with
qù in spoken Chinese. It is also rarely used transitively with an object.

(h)
dào [arriving]:

 !"5 Chentian dàolái le. Spring has arrived.

Motion verbs and direction indicators

70 II Verbs

 ! Xiàozhkng The headmaster

 5 dào wn jia lái le. came to my house.

 Jiljie dào (My) elder sister

 !5 jùyuàn qù le. went to the theatre.

Note:
Dào is not used with
qù on its own, but it can occur with
=qù with a location object. (See 19.1.1 (2) where
dào is classiyed as a coverb.)

In document 20125311147206509 (Page 78-85)