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寄<去>了 or 寄了?


rtf

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Hello!

 

Sometimes I come across sentences with 去/来 components (as in the following),and sometimes without them,I just wonder if there`re any preferences in (not) using them?

 

我给他寄去了二十块钱 vs 我给他寄了二十块钱

我给你们请来了医生 vs 我给你们请了医生

我给你们拿来了吃的东西 vs 我给你们拿了吃的东西

我给你们买来了北京的图片 vs 我给你们买了北京的图片,and so on.

 

 

Thanks a lot.

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Here are my guesses:

 

我给他寄去了二十块钱 vs 我给他寄了二十块钱

 

The meaning of the character 给 is somewhat ambiguous.  If it indicates the recipient of the money, I think it is redundant to add a directional compound.  If it merely indicates the recipient of a favor, than a directional compound may clarify where the money ended up in relationship to the current location of the speaker.  Below are possible meanings

 

I sent away twenty bucks to him  (redundant)

I sent away twenty bucks for him (versus "sending them here for him")

 

我给你们请来了医生

I got the doctor to come for you all.

 

我给你们请了医生

I sent for the doctor for your all (but am silent about whether the doctor is actually coming or not)

 

我给你们拿来了吃的东西 vs 我给你们拿了吃的东西

The presence of 来 tells you the food was brought to the current location.  Without it, the final location of the food is unclear.

 

我给你们买来了北京的图片 vs 我给你们买了北京的图片

The presence of 来 tells you the map is in your possession and presumably available for immediate use.  Without it, it is not clear what happened to the map after the purchase.

 

In general, Chinese is much more scrupulous about distinguishing the various phases of an action than English.  Without obvious context, a monosyllabic verb tells you almost nothing about the real world other than that the idea of the verb is relevant to the circumstances.  A lone monosyllabic verb cannot tell you at what stage an action is.  That is why Chinese has a heavy use of aspect particles, verbal complements, serial verbs, and particularly resultative particles.

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