Separable verb is also known as: 离合词 (líhécí) and verb-object phrase.

“Separable verbs” get their name from their ability to “separate” into two parts (a verb part and an object part), with other words in between. In fact, you could also simply call separable verbs “verb-object phrases.”

What Are They

Purely from the “separable” aspect, Mandarin’s separable verbs have a counterpart in English: phrasal verbs (also called two-word verbs). While the grammatical components of English’s phrasal verbs are different, the “separable” quality works in a very similar way. Take the phrasal verb “check out” for example:

• Check out my new computer.
• Check my new computer out.

Do you see what happened there? The verb “check out” can split into two parts (a verb and a preposition), and other words can go in between those two parts. Separable verbs work much the same way in Chinese, except that the two parts are a verb and an object (a noun).

Let’s look at a typical example in Chinese, using the verb 见面, meaning “to meet.” 见 is the verb; 面 is the object, literally meaning “face.”

• 我 想 见面 你 。Wǒ xiǎng jiànmiàn nǐ.
• 我 想 见 你 。Wǒ xiǎng jiàn nǐ.
• 我 想 跟 你 见面 。the prepositional phrase, literally “with you,” comes before the verbWǒ xiǎng gēn nǐ jiànmiàn.

Perhaps the most common examples of separable verbs that beginners struggle with are 见面 and 睡觉.

Below we will introduce separable verbs in more detail, provide more examples, and also offer more specific cases of where separable verbs can get tricky.

Why Use Them

If separable verbs are simply verb-object phrases, then why the special name? It’s because there are some special features of Chinese verb-object phrases worth special attention, and the name “separable verbs” helps call attention to this. Mastering separable verbs can be a little tricky, and is an essential objective of the intermediate level learner of Chinese.

Separable verbs are just one of those things you can’t avoid. Many extremely common verbs, such as “to sleep” (睡觉) or “to meet” (见面) are separable verbs, and until you understand which verbs are separable verbs and how they work, you’ll forever be making mistakes with these verbs, even in very basic sentences.

Basic Usage

First, you need to understand the structure of separable verbs. Most separable verbs are a “Verb + Object” (the object is a noun) construct. One might wonder, then, why there needs to be a separate category called “separable verbs” instead of just thinking of them as a verb and an object. There are several reasons to think of them as special verbs:

1. Many separable verbs can’t be easily translated into other languages in a way that makes both the verb and the object part clear. For example, 见面 (to meet), and 结婚 (to get married). In these examples, it’s just not easy to think of the objects as an object.
2. The relationship between the verb and the object in a separable verb pair is very close; adding the object to the verb is sort of the “default form” of the verb, even if the verb part can be used without the object.
3. Separable verbs are a source of frequent errors from learners of Chinese. No matter how you think of them, it’s good to give these “words” or “phrases” extra attention to make your Chinese more natural.

The key to using separable verbs correctly is to remember that they are “Verb + Object” constructs. The verb alone must be treated as a verb, and the object cannot be treated as a verb. It’s from this essential relationship that the following principles flow:

Common Examples

• 帮忙 (bāngmáng) to help; to do a favor

帮 is the verb; 忙 is the object, meaning “a favor.”

• 我们 可以 帮忙 你 。Wǒmen kěyǐ bāngmáng nǐ.
• 我们 可以 帮 你 。Wǒmen kěyǐ bāng nǐ.We can help you.
• 我们 可以 帮忙 。Wǒmen kěyǐ bāngmáng.We can do (you) this favor.

If you want to ask someone to do you a favor, check this out:

• 你 可以 帮 我 一个 忙 吗 ？Nǐ kěyǐ bāng wǒ yī gè máng ma?Can you do me a favor?

• 结婚 (jiéhūn) to get married

结 is the verb; 婚 acts as the object, meaning “marriage.” However, 婚 cannot be used as a noun very much.

• 我 想 结婚 她 。Wǒ xiǎng jiéhūn tā.
• 我 想 跟 她 结婚 。the prepositional phrase, literally “with her,” comes before the verbWǒ xiǎng gēn tā jiéhūn.I want to get married to her.

• 聊天 (liáotiān) to chat; to talk (about things in general)

聊 is the verb; 天 acts as the object.

• 他 很 喜欢 聊天 女生 。Tā hěn xǐhuan liáotiān nǚshēng.
• 上班 时间 不要 聊天 。Shàngbān shíjiān bùyào liáotiān.
• 他 很 喜欢 跟 女生 聊天 。the prepositional phrase, literally “with you,” comes before the verbTā hěn xǐhuan gēn nǚshēng liáotiān.He loves talking with girls.

Literally, 天 doesn’t mean anything. The object needs to be something specific if you mean to be clear. An important note to keep in mind is that you don’t need to translate “about” into 关于 in this scenario.

• 爸爸 不 喜欢 聊天 他 的 工作 。Bàba bù xǐhuan liáotiān tā de gōngzuò.
• 爸爸 不 喜欢 聊 关于 他 的 工作 。Bàba bù xǐhuan liá guānyú tā de gōngzuò.
• 爸爸 不 喜欢 聊 他 的 工作 。Bàba bù xǐhuan liáo tā de gōngzuò.My father doesn’t like to talk about his work.

• 创业 (chuàngyè) to start up one’s business

创 is the verb; 业 is the object.

• 我 想 创业 自己 的 公司 。Wǒ xiǎng chuàngyè zìjǐ de gōngsī.
• 我 想 创业 。Wǒ xiǎng chuàngyè.I want to start up my own business.

If you mean to say “to launch a company” or “to set up your business,” use this sentence below:

• 我 想 开 公司 。Wǒ xiǎng kāi gōngsī.I want to lunch my business.

Where to put 了, 过, 着

Examples

见面 (jiànmiàn)

• 我们 昨天 见 了 面 。separated, 了 insertedWǒmen zuótiān jiàn le miàn.We’ve met yesterday.
• 我们 见 过 面 。separated, 过 insertedWǒmen jiàn guo miàn.We’ve met.

开会 (kāihuì)

• 我们 早上 开 了 会 。Wǒmen zǎoshang kāi le huì.We had a meeting this morning.
• 你们 开 过 会 了 吗 ？Nǐmen kāi guo huì le ma?Have you had the meeting yet?
• 我们 开 着 会 呢 。Wǒmen kāi zhe huì ne.We’re having a meeting right now.

吃饭 (chīfàn)

• 他 昨天 来 我 家 了 ，还 吃 了 饭 。Tā zuótiān lái wǒ jiā le, hái chī le fàn.He came to my house yesterday and he ate a meal with us.
• 他 吃 过 饭 了 吗 ？Tā chī guo fàn le ma?Has he eaten yet?
• 他 吃 着 饭 呢 。Tā chī zhe fàn ne.He’s eating a meal right now.

Note: unlike the particles 过 and 着, the particle 了 is especially tricky, and it can also appear after the object. So it can be correct in multiple places.

Where to Put Measure Words

Examples

• 见面 (jiànmiàn)

• 我们 见 个 面 吧 。Wǒmen jiàn gè miàn ba.Let’s meet.
• 我们 见 过 几 次 面。Wǒmen jiàn guo jǐ cì miàn.We’ve met a few times.

• 吃饭 (chīfàn)

• 我们 一起 吃 过 几 次 饭 。Wǒmen yīqǐ chī guo jǐ cì fàn.We’ve had several meals together.
• 老板 请 大家 吃 了 一 顿 饭 。Lǎobǎn qǐng dàjiā chīle yī dùn fàn.The boss invited everyone to dinner.

• 睡觉 (shuìjiào)

• 晚安！睡 个 好 觉 。Wǎn’ān! Shuì gè hǎo jiào.Good night! I hope you can have some good sleep.
• 昨晚 我 只 睡 了 两 个 小时 觉 。Zuówǎn wǒ zhǐ shuì le liǎng gè xiǎoshí jiào.I only slept two hours last night.

How to Reduplicate

Reduplication is a way to express the casual nature of a verb, or that it happens only briefly. When it comes to separable verbs, only the verb part reduplicates.

Examples

• 见 见 面jiàn jiàn miàn
• 吃 吃 饭chī chī fàn
• 聊 聊 天liáo liáo tiān

• 吃 饭 吃饭饭 is the object; it should not be repeated.)chī fàn chīfàn
• 聊 天 聊天天 is the object; it should not be repeated.liáo tiān liáotiān

Note that separable verbs can’t be used with 一下 to express it happens briefly.

• 见面 一下jiànmiàn yīxià

Academic debate

There is some debate as to how useful the concept of separable verbs really is. For our purposes, we’re only concerned with whether or not separable verbs are a useful concept for the student of Mandarin Chinese. Many learners do, in fact, find the concept to be quite useful in helping them speak more natural Chinese.

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Non-native speakers of Chinese can often get the words 长 (zhǎng) vs 长得 (zhǎngde) mixed up. Both these words are about “growing”, but they have different functions. Let’s look at them one by one.

长 (zhǎng): to grow, to develop

The word 长 itself means “to grow” (note that this is pronounced zhǎng, and not cháng). It can mean “to grow” as in to grow larger or to develop physically, or to grow a particular feature. Let’s have a look at some example sentences:

她长高了五公分。

Tā zhǎnggāole wǔ gōngfēn.

She’s grown five centimetres taller.

草已长了根。

Cǎo yǐ zhǎngle gēn.

The grass has grown roots.

树长叶子了。

Shù zhǎng yèzi le.

The tree has grown leaves.

我长了痘痘。

Wǒ zhǎngle dòudou.
I’ve got a spot. (lit. I’ve grown a spot.)

Notice how 长 is about growing or developing features. 长 also combines into varius words related to growth, such as 增长 (zēngzhǎng).

长得 (zhǎngde): present state of growth, to look…

长得 is used to talk about the present state of growth or something, and by extension, how something or someone looks. Adding 得 to 长 is like saying “the result of growth is”: it’s how something appears now. Some example sentences:

他长得很帅。

Tā zhǎngde hěn shuài.

He’s very handsome.

她长得比较结实。

Tā zhǎngde bǐjiào jiēshi.

She’s grown quite strong.

他长得很像他爸爸。

Tā zhǎngde hěn xiàng tā bàba.

He really looks like his dad.

那些树长得太高了。

Nàxiē shù zhǎng de tài gāole.

Those trees have grown too tall.

Notice how 长得 is about the result of growth or an appearance or state that has developed.

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The words 拿起来 (náqǐlái) and 拿上来 (náshànglái) in Chinese seem similar but are actually used differently. 拿起来 translates quite neatly into “pick up” or “pick something up” in English. 拿上来 doesn’t have such a direct translation, and is used to talk about moving things from lower positions to higher positions, e.g. putting things on tables or taking them upstairs.

Notice how both of these words are formed with the verb 拿 followed by a directional complement. The complements are in neutral tone – only the first character 拿 has a strong tone in these words.

拿起来 (náqǐlái): “to pick up”

Of the two words described here, this is probably the easier to understand and use. 拿起来 (náqǐlái) is very similar to “pick up” in English, i.e to use your hand/s to get an object off the floor, a table or something. It doesn’t mean meeting people in bars or giving someone a lift in your car, though!

Notice the directional complement 起来 (in neutral tone). Literally this is “rise come”, so 拿起来 is always about bringing objects upwards and towards you. You can’t use 拿起来 to talk about getting some down off a shelf, for example; that would be 拿下来 (náxialai).

拿起来 also implies that the object has been picked up and held, at least for a moment. The action of 拿起来 in itself isn’t about putting the object somewhere else, although that might follow.

The next thing to note is that 拿起来 usually appears in one of two constructions:

拿起 [object] 来

把 [object] 拿起来

If you don’t know about 把, then read about the 把 structure. These two structures are pretty much equivalent in meaning; the only important difference is where the object goes. You might also see 拿起来 without a direct object.

Have a look at some example sentences for 拿起来:

你可以帮我把那个拿起来吗？

Nǐ kěyǐ bāng wǒ bǎ nàge náqilai ma?

Could you pick that up for me?

他把杯子拿起来喝了一口。

Tā bǎ bēizi náqilai hēle yī kǒu.

He picked up his cup and took a sip.

学生都拿起笔来开始考试。

Xuéshēng náqi bǐ lai kāishǐ kǎoshì.

The students picked up their pens and began the exam.

箱子很轻，我可以很容易地拿起来。

Xiāngzi hěn qīng, wǒ kěyǐ hěn róngyìde náqilai.

The box is very light – I can pick it up easily.

As you can see, 拿起来 is used to talk about picking up objects and holding them for some amount of time.

拿上来 (náshànglái): “to bring up”

拿上来 is probably best translated into English as “to bring up”, as in to take an object from somewhere lower down and bring it to somewhere higher up. Unlike 拿起来, the action of 拿上来 includes the object ending up somewhere without someone holding it.

That’s the key difference to remember about this two words. 拿起来 is simply about the object being picked up, and that’s it. 拿上来 is about where the object ends up: from a lower position to a higher one.

The similarity is that both words are about an action that comes towards the speaker. That’s what 来 is doing on the end of both words: the action is *coming closer *in both cases.

拿上来 tends to be used in a 把 structure (see above):

把 [object] 拿上来

As usual, we’d recommend getting familiar with example sentences, listening a lot and reading a lot to learn these structures. This is easier and more effective than trying to memorize ‘grammar rules’.

Some example sentences for 拿上来:

护士下楼把病人的药拿上来了。

Hùshì xiàlóu bǎ bìngrénde yào náshànglaile.

The nurse went downstairs to bring the patients’ medicine up.

我让行李员把我们的包拿上来了。

Wǒ ràng xínglǐyuán bǎ wǒmende bāo náshanglai le.

I had the porter bring our bags up.

你可以帮我把我的书从楼下拿上来吗？

Nǐ kěyǐ bāng wǒ bǎ wǒde shū cóng lóuxià náshanglai ma?

Could you bring my book upstairs for me?

Notice how 拿上来 is about objects being moved from a lower location to a higher one (often upstairs and downstairs, although it doesn’t have to be).

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