Mandarin Vocabulary
Verbs 1

The verbs section is arranged differently than the other vocabulary lessons on this site.  Instead of arranging words in terms of a theme, they will be arranged according to the type of object which they take.

Up | Verbs 1 | Verbs 2 | Verbs 3 | Verbs 4

The verbs on this page fit the pattern:

Verb + Noun/Noun Phrase

This type of verb requires an object.  If these verbs appear without an object in the sentence, an object must be understood from the context or have a resultative complement.  In English these would be called "transitive verbs"

An example would be the English word "hit".  You have to say what is being hit.  "The boy hits the girl", "The bat hit the ball", etc.  You cannot omit the object.  If the object is unknown you can use a generic object "something".

An exception to this would be when the object has a verb complement (an adverb describing how the verb is executed).  "He hits." is not acceptable, but "He hits well." is fine.  The same is true of the words in Chinese below.

gei3 to give 給 gei3 wo3 gei3 wo3 qian2 gei3 wo3 che1   io can1 jia1 to attend 參加 can1 jia1 can1 jia1 huo2 dong4 can1 jia1 hun1 li3   ** chang4 to sing 唱 chang4 ge1 chang4 guo2 ge1 chang4 xi4   def chu1 to exit 出 chu1 qu4 chu1 guo2 chu1 men2   rc zuo4 to sit 坐 zuo4 zuo4 xia4 zuo4 che1   　 da3 to hit 打 da3 da3 qiu2 da3 ren2   　 du2 to read 讀 du2 shu1 du2 jing1 wen2 du2 gu4 shi4 def hui2 to return 回 hui2 qu4 hui2 jia1 hui2 guo2   rc fen1 xiang3 to share 分享 fen1 xiang3 fen1 xiang3 xiu1 xi2 fen1 xiang3 shi2 wu4   　 jie4 shao4 to introduce 介紹 jie4 shao4 jie4 shao4 zi4 ji3 jie4 shao4 peng2 you3   　 jie3 jue2 to solve 解決 jie3 jue2 jie3 jue2 wen4 ti3 jie3 jue2 kun4 nan2   　 jiao1 to teach 教 jiao1 shu1 jiao1 xiao3 hai2 zi jiao1 ren2   def guo4 to cross/pass though 過 guo4 guo4 ma3 lu4 guo4 sheng1 rc kao3 lü4 think 考慮 kao3 lu4 dong1 xi1 kao3 lu4 shi2 jian1 kao3 lu4 qian2 def kai1 to open 開 kai1 kai1 men2 kai1 deng1   ** ren4 shi4 to recognize 認識 ren4 shi4 ren4 shi4 ta1 ren4 shi4 ni3 de che1 　 zou3 leave/walk/run 走 zou3 zou3 lu4 zou3 nan2   　 zuo4 to be/ to do 做 zuo4 zuo4 fan4 zuo4 yi1 fu2 zuo4 jing1 li3   ** zhu3 to cook 煮 zhu3 fan4 zhu3 cai3 zhu3 mian4   def Notes IO- This verb can take an Indirect Object RC- Can take a resultative complement in place of an object Def- The first choice in the box is the verb's default object can1 jia1 can mean either to participate in something, or to attend it. da3 has several functions in addition to the basic meaning of "to hit".  One common use is to refer to playing any sport where hitting is involved, but it does not refer to playing games where contact is not part of the game. guo4 means "to cross", "to go beyond", or "to pass through".  guo4 sheng1 means "to die" because it literally means "to pass beyond life". kai1 means both "to open" and "to start".  It functions in many ways, including as a resultative complement.  It is also the verb used mean "turn on" in refer to electrical equipment. zhu3 fan4 means both to cook rice, and to cook any sort of meal.

Verbs 1 | Verbs 2 | Verbs 3 | Verbs 4

Up | About the Site | Chinese Lessons | Mandarin Lessons | Cantonese | Downloads

Home        Friends Service          Bookstore
© copyright 2002-2006 all rights reserved