Object Semantic Types: Locative and Result Objects
处所宾语 (locative object): Certain verbs of arrival/motion (到、到达、登上、爬、离开、经过…) take a PLACE noun directly as their object, no preposition needed: 到达机场 = 'arrive at the airport'.
结果宾语 (result object): With verbs like 写、做、画、想出、提出、创作、设计、起草、研制, the object is something the verb's action PRODUCES — it did not exist before the action. 写了一篇文章 = the article is created by writing, not a pre-existing thing being acted on.
Contrast: 吃苹果 (eat an apple) — the apple pre-exists (受事宾语/patient object). 写文章 (write an article) — the article is the RESULT, created by the act of writing. Mixing these up (e.g. using a verb like 买/看/拿 with something that must be newly created) produces an unnatural sentence.
Worked examples
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 他们明天要去上海。 | Tā men míng tiān yào qù Shàng hǎi. | They're going to Shanghai tomorrow. | Minimal locative-object frame: 去 (motion verb) + place noun directly as object, no preposition |
| 我们上周爬了长城。 | Wǒ men shàng zhōu pá le Cháng chéng. | We climbed the Great Wall last week. | New verb 爬 also takes the place noun directly as a locative object |
| 她写了一篇很有意思的文章。 | Tā xiě le yì piān hěn yǒu yì si de wén zhāng. | She wrote a very interesting article. | New pattern: 结果宾语 — 文章 is created BY the act of writing, not a pre-existing object |
| 经过讨论，大家终于做出了一个决定。 | Jīng guò tǎo lùn, dà jiā zhōng yú zuò chū le yí gè jué dìng. | After discussion, everyone finally reached a decision. | Result object with a more elaborate resultative verb (做出), showing the decision is produced by the discussion |
| 他们到达机场后，马上提出了新的建议。 | Tā men dào dá jī chǎng hòu, mǎ shàng tí chū le xīn de jiàn yì. | After they arrived at the airport, they immediately raised a new suggestion. | Combines both types in one sentence: 到达机场 (locative object) and 提出了新的建议 (result object) |
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.
What this opens up
These patterns list Object Semantic Types among their own prerequisites, so they become readable once this one holds.
Object Semantic Types 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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