Serial Verb & Pivotal Constructions
连动句 (serial verb construction): one subject, two or more verb phrases in sequence, describing consecutive or purposive actions. 他去图书馆借书。(He goes to the library to borrow books.) — same subject (他) does both.
兼语句 (pivotal sentence): the object of V1 is also the subject of V2 — one noun plays two roles.
老师叫我回答问题。(The teacher tells me to answer the question.) — 我 is object of 叫, subject of 回答问题.
Combining them: the two often appear together in longer sentences:
他打电话请朋友帮忙搬家。(He called to ask a friend to help him move.) — 打电话 (serial) + 请朋友帮忙搬家 (pivotal).
Common mistake: confusing the two — check whether the second verb phrase shares the same doer as the first (连动句) or a different one introduced by V1's object (兼语句).
Worked examples
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 他去图书馆借书。 | Tā qù tú shū guǎn jiè shū. | He goes to the library to borrow books. | 连动句: same subject (他) performs both actions in sequence. |
| 老师叫我回答问题。 | Lǎo shī jiào wǒ huí dá wèn tí. | The teacher tells me to answer the question. | 兼语句: 我 is the object of 叫 and the subject of 回答问题. |
| 我们坐火车去北京旅游。 | Wǒ men zuò huǒ chē qù Běi jīng lǚ yóu. | We take the train to Beijing to travel. | 连动句 with three verb phrases: manner (坐火车) + destination (去北京) + purpose (旅游). |
| 他打电话请朋友帮忙搬家。 | Tā dǎ diàn huà qǐng péng you bāng máng bān jiā. | He called a friend to ask for help moving house. | Combines 连动句 (打电话, same subject 他) with 兼语句 embedded as the second verb phrase (请朋友帮忙搬家: 朋友 is object of 请, subject of 帮忙搬家). |
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