Pivot Sentences: 叫/让/请+someone+V
A pivot sentence: the OBJECT of the first verb is also the SUBJECT of the second verb. Structure: Subject1 + 叫/让/请/派 + Object1(=Subject2) + Verb2.
叫/让 (jiào/ràng) — "tell/have someone do..." 老师叫他回答问题。/ 妈妈让我洗碗。(让 is slightly softer/more permission-based than 叫.)
请 (qǐng) — "invite/ask (politely)..." 我们请老师来吃饭。
派 (pài) — "send/dispatch (officially)..." 公司派他去北京出差。
Contrast: 请 = polite invitation; 叫/让 = direct instruction or permission; 派 = official assignment by an organization, not a personal request.
Worked examples
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 老师叫他回答问题。 | Lǎoshī jiào tā huídá wèntí. | The teacher told him to answer the question. | Minimal pivot frame — 他 is both the object of 叫 and the subject of 回答. |
| 我们想请王教授来做讲座。 | Wǒmen xiǎng qǐng Wáng jiàoshòu lái zuò jiǎngzuò. | We'd like to invite Professor Wang to give a lecture. | 请 for a polite invitation, with a longer verb phrase (来做讲座) as Verb2. |
| 公司决定派小李去上海开一家新的分店。 | Gōngsī juédìng pài Xiǎo Lǐ qù Shànghǎi kāi yì jiā xīn de fēndiàn. | The company decided to send Xiao Li to Shanghai to open a new branch. | 派 for an official organizational assignment, with an extended purpose clause. |
What you need first
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What this opens up
These patterns list Pivot Sentences among their own prerequisites, so they become readable once this one holds.
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