Verbal Phrases as Subject, Object & Modifier

Chinese grammar · HSK 3 · 动词短语作主语、宾语和定语 · By Carson 木林森

1. 作主语：动词(短语)可以直接做主语，像名词一样。学习汉语很有意思。(Learning Chinese is interesting.)

2. 作宾语：跟在喜欢/习惯/决定/打算等动词后面。
他决定去中国留学。(He decided to study abroad in China.)

3. 作定语 (VP+的+N)：动词短语+的，修饰名词，相当于英语的关系从句。
他送给我的礼物很漂亮。(The gift [that] he gave me is very pretty.)
结构：[VP] + 的 + 名词。VP 里重复的宾语要省略。

Worked examples

Chinese	Pinyin	English	What it shows
每天锻炼身体对健康很有帮助。	Měi tiān duàn liàn shēn tǐ duì jiàn kāng hěn yǒu bāng zhù.	Exercising every day is very helpful for health.	VP (每天锻炼身体) as the subject of the sentence.
我朋友打算下个月去旅游。	Wǒ péng you dǎ suàn xià ge yuè qù lǚ yóu.	My friend plans to travel next month.	VP (下个月去旅游) as the object of 打算.
妈妈昨天做的菜非常好吃。	Mā ma zuó tiān zuò de cài fēi cháng hǎo chī.	The food mom cooked yesterday was delicious.	VP+的+N: 做的 modifies 菜, like a relative clause.

Produce this pattern without stopping to think about it. GraphChinese drills Verbal Phrases as Subject, Object & Modifier 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.

Topic-Comment & Subject-Predicate Predicate

Verbal Phrases as Subject, Object & Modifier 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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