Co-verbs.doc

Co-verbs 在﹐到﹐给﹐对﹐为﹐从﹐离﹐跟﹐用﹐坐 ...... Other terminology: pre-transitive verbs, preposition, 介词 1. What are co-verbs? Many co-verbs are verbs in Chinese, but some of them can only be used as co-verbs in modern Chinese, such as 为 and 被. (把 and 被 are not included in the following chart of co-verbs. Please see the separate notes on the 把 and 被 constructions.) 2. Why should I treat these words as co-verbs, but not prepositions? In Chinese, when it comes to describing actions, sequence of actions is important. The first action should come first. For example, I went to China by airplane. You have to think that the action of 坐 sitting on the airplane happens before going to China, therefore 坐飞机 by airplane should be placed before 去中国went to China. If you want to say: I go to school by car, you must bear in mind that in a Chinese person’s mind you have to sit in the car before you can reach school, therefore, 坐汽车 by car should be placed before去学校go to school. As you can see from the above examples, a co-verb is followed by a noun to form a co-verb clause. Commonly used Co-verbs Character Pinyin Verb meaning Prep. in English sentence Followed by words of 从* cóng to start from /through place/time 朝 cáo to face toward direction/place 到 dào to arrive to place/time 对 duì to be face to face to/towards/about people/knowledge 给 g?i to give to/for people/organization 跟 gēn to follow with/to people/organization (...一起) 离 lí to distance from place/time 替 tì to replace for people/organization 往 wàng to go toward direction/place 为* wèi to be on behalf of for people/organization 用 yòng to use with/in noun (used as a tool) 在 zài to locate at/in/on place/time 坐 zuò to sit by ... transport... 3. How can I form a sentence with a co-v. clause? A co-verb clause should be placed before a main verb of a sentence. The following are examples of sentence patterns with co-verb clauses. s co-v. cl v o w? 我 I cóng xuéxiào 从 学校 FROM SCHOOL qù 去 GO diàny?ngyuà