Mandarin · Chapter 4 · Lesson 8 · Grammar primer
Verb object verbs
Prescribed by the AQA specification.
The short version
吃饭 (chī fàn) is two words, and markers land in the gap
Many Mandarin verbs come with a generic object propping them up: 吃饭 (chī fàn), 说话 (shuō huà), 唱歌 (chàng gē), 看书 (kàn shū), 睡觉 (shuì jiào). Because the grammar reads them as verb plus object, aspect markers and measure phrases wedge into the middle. The instinct to keep 吃饭 (chī fàn) glued and hang 了 (le) off the end is what the native pattern splits: 吃了饭 (chī le fàn).
他唱了一首歌。 Tā chàng le yì shǒu gē.
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Lesson 8 of 8 in this chapter