Separable Verb-Object Compounds

Chinese grammar · HSK 3 · 动宾式离合词 · By Carson 木林森

有些两个字的动词其实是"动词+宾语"结构（离合词），时态助词(了/过)、数量词、时段或修饰语要插入到两个语素中间，不能像普通双音节动词那样直接在后面加宾语。

位置规则： 助词/数量/时段/修饰语插入中间，而不是放在整个词后面。
- 见面 → 见了面 / 见过面 / 见一次面
- 帮忙 → 帮了忙 / 帮个忙 / 帮不了忙
- 睡觉 → 睡了觉 / 睡午觉
- 请假 → 请了假 / 请一天假
- 生气 → 生了气 / 生她的气

常见错误： 离合词后不能直接加宾语。
❌我见面他。 ✅我跟他见面。 / 我见他的面。

这与你学过的动词重叠（AA/A一A）类似——见见面、聊聊天也是把两个语素拆开、中间插入其他成分的例子。

Worked examples

Chinese	Pinyin	English	What it shows
我明天要跟朋友见面。	Wǒ míng tiān yào gēn péng you jiàn miàn.	I'm going to meet my friend tomorrow.	Minimal frame; the object of 见面 (朋友) is introduced via 跟, never placed directly after 见面.
我们已经三年没见面了。	Wǒ men yǐ jīng sān nián méi jiàn miàn le.	We haven't seen each other in three years.	Duration (三年) precedes the whole verb phrase here; 了 attaches at the very end, showing the insertion point can vary by structure.
你能不能帮我一个忙？	Nǐ néng bu néng bāng wǒ yí gè máng?	Could you do me a favor?	Quantity phrase 一个 and indirect object 我 both insert between 帮 and 忙.
他上周请了三天假去看医生。	Tā shàng zhōu qǐng le sān tiān jià qù kàn yī shēng.	He took three days off last week to see a doctor.	Aspect particle 了 and duration 三天 both insert between 请 and 假, in that order.
妈妈生我的气，因为我回家太晚了。	Mā ma shēng wǒ de qì, yīn wèi wǒ huí jiā tài wǎn le.	Mom is angry at me because I came home too late.	Possessive modifier 我的 inserts between 生 and 气 to mark the target of anger, instead of following the compound as a direct object.

Produce this pattern without stopping to think about it. GraphChinese drills Separable Verb-Object Compounds across 13 exercises and schedules the review that keeps it.

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.

Verb Reduplication

What this opens up

These patterns list Separable Verb-Object Compounds among their own prerequisites, so they become readable once this one holds.

Separable verbs 离合词

Separable Verb-Object Compounds 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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