How do you know what order to put verb-objects in?

[jhargett]

My understanding is that transitive verbs can have the object come after them. Or, can you have a transitive verb where the object is required to come before it?

To say this another way, which of these is correct or is both of them:

他来美国

or

他到美国来。

How do I know if I can use S-V-O or I have to use S-Coverb-O-V?

Thanks,

Jon

[ann_snow]

I rember that there are two sets of sentences in Chinese using the form of 'object + verb'.

One is the sentence including '把'

请把窗户打开(Please open the door), Where '窗户' is the object, '打开' is the verb.

请把书翻到99页(Please turn to page 99), where '书' is the object, '翻到' is the verb

The other is the sentence including '被'

大树被风吹倒了(The big tree is blowed down by the wind), where '大树' is the object, '吹倒' is the verb.

椅子被汤姆拿走了(The chair is moved away by Tom), where '椅子' is the object, '搬走' is the verb

[jhargett]

Thanks for the response. While this doesn't quite answer my question, it does help illustrate it.

In the example sentence given ([pop=please/qǐng]请[/pop][pop=take/bǎ]把[/pop][pop=window/chuānghu]窗户[/pop][pop=to break open/dǎkāi]打开[/pop]), why would you use the coverb 把 to place the object before the verb when there is nothing after the verb to prevent it from going there? Why not use S-V-O here? Is there any rationale I can use to say, in this case, use S-O-V, in that case use S-Coverb-O-V?

[shibo77]

Very simple, both are correct:

请把窗户打开

请打开窗户

Although both sentences sound like sentence fragments unless you add in a subject:

请你把窗户打开。

请你打开窗户。

Both of these are correct grammatically:

他来美国 <<< this is a sentence fragment, merely stating "He came to the United States..."

他到美国来。<<

-Shibo

[ann_snow]

We use the form of S+V+O in most time of our daily life. If my memory is right, only in the sentences including ‘把’ and ‘被’ can we see the O+V. If I see some other example, I will tell you.

For example,

‘我正在学习汉语’, I am learning Chinese. S+V+O

‘请你不要打扰我’， Don’t disturbing me. S+V+O

‘我们可以成为朋友’ We can be friends. S+V+O

‘这个世界是美丽的’ The world is beautiful. S+V+O

All these sentences are forward, we always use them in our daily life.

But in some times we want make something clearly if we change the order in Chinese. There is a little bit emphasis in it

For example,

‘请你把面包递给我，好吗？or ‘请你递给我面包，好吗’just like in English ‘Give me the bread, or Give the bread to me’. The different is that when we use the form of S+O+V, which always indicates that we want you make it clear that what I wanted is the ‘bread’ not the other things.

The sentence including ‘被’ has a little bit emphasis in the word after ‘被’

For example

椅子被汤姆搬走了(The chair is moved away by Tom)，Certainly, we can say ‘汤姆搬走了椅子’（Tom moves the chair away）. However, if we want to make the others know the chair is moved away by Tom not the others.

[jhargett]

Thanks guys! That was very helpful.

[JoannaW]

First, you compare

1.他到美国来

2.他到美国去

3.他爬到桌子上去了.

4.他爬到桌子上来了.

In 1,4, the sentence implies that speaker is in American or on the table.

2,3 the speaker isn't.

来 here acts the result complement to indicate the opposite direction of the speaker and listener.

[freefall]

There's another type of O + V which is sometimes called a notationally passive sentence.

问题解决了。

wen4ti jie3jue2 le.

This phenomenon is not found is not found in English. A passive marker like 被 is not necessary in this case. I think this can also be called a topic-comment structure.

I'm still not totally sure when you can omit 被. For example, you need bei in the sentence

银行被盗了。 If you say 银行盗了 it is weird.

[ann_snow]

As we can see, ‘被’ is a preposition in Chinese, which is used to explain the relationship between ‘施事者’who acts, and ‘受事者’ who accepts the action in most time. But some times, ‘被’ is used to lead to the main topic just like a conjunction, then it can’t be omitted. Such as the sentence what freefall mentioned ‘银行被盗了’，it can’t be omitted