Existential Sentences with 着: 桌子上放着书
Describe what exists in a place using: Place + Verb + 着 + Number + Noun.
着 (zhe) marks the ongoing state/result of the action — the thing stays there.
桌子上放着一本书。(There's a book on the table — placed there and staying.)
Compare with 有: 桌子上有一本书 (simple existence) vs 桌子上放着一本书 (existence + HOW it got there/its state).
Word order is fixed: Place always comes FIRST, then Verb+着, then the Noun. Don't put the noun before the verb.
Worked examples
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 桌子上放着一本书。 | Zhuōzi shàng fàng zhe yī běn shū. | There's a book placed on the table. | Minimal frame: Place + Verb+着 + Noun. |
| 墙上挂着一张照片。 | Qiáng shàng guà zhe yī zhāng zhàopiàn. | A photo is hanging on the wall. | Different verb (挂=hang), same Place+V着+Noun pattern. |
| 门口站着两个人，他们在说话。 | Ménkǒu zhàn zhe liǎng gè rén, tāmen zài shuōhuà. | Two people are standing at the doorway, talking. | Adds a follow-up clause with 在+verb describing what they're doing. |
What you need first
Every topic in GraphChinese names its own prerequisites, and these are the grammar points this one is built on. If a sentence here will not parse, one of them is why.
The same pattern at other levels
- Existential sentences — HSK 4
Existential Sentences with 着 is one topic of 829. GraphChinese teaches them in prerequisite order, so this pattern reaches you on the day everything it rests on is proven. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
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