Mandarin · Chapter 6 · Lesson 3 · Grammar primer
Co verbs
Prescribed by the AQA specification.
The short version
The prepositional phrase goes before the verb
Mandarin's co-verbs (从 (cóng), 到 (dào), 在 (zài), 用 (yòng), 坐 (zuò), 给 (gěi)) carry their own object in front of the main verb, the reverse of English. 'I eat at home' comes out as I-at-home-eat. The negator attaches to the co-verb, not the verb behind it: 我不在家吃饭 (wǒ bú zài jiā chī fàn), never 我在家不吃饭 (wǒ zài jiā bù chī fàn).
我在家吃饭。 Wǒ zài jiā chī fàn.
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Lesson 3 of 7 in this chapter