"I went for a jog" how to say this?

[yonitabonita]

Hi folks,

Back to basics, how do you say "I went for a jog" or "I danced"

我跑步了

or

我跑了步

我跳舞了

or

我跳了舞

Thanks in advance,

Y

[skylee]

What are the contexts?

For "I went for a jog", consider -

我跑步去了。 or 我去跑步了。 or 我去了跑步。

[yonitabonita]

Thanks skylee

Context: Someone sees me covered in sweat in an elevator and I want to say "I've just been for a jog" by way of explaining why I'm covered in sweat and looking dishevelled.

So 我刚刚去跑步了 is what you'd say in this context right?

The main point was really to find out whether or not you can split 跑步 with a 了 by saying 跑了步

or 唱了歌

跳了舞

and so on.

Thanks,

Y

[Kelebek]

These verbs are intransitive and have disyllabic "verb+object" structure. According to my grammar book - Chinese, A Comprehensive Grammar -, they cannot be followed by additional grammatical items in a sentence.

With the completion aspect (Verb+le);

Wo tiao le wu = I danced.

Wo pao le bu = I ran.

Wo chang le ge.

Wo chang le yi ge zhong tou (de) ge.

[yonitabonita]

Thanks for your response Kebelek.

So what's the difference between 我跳了舞 and 我跳舞了? Are they interchangeable?

And what do you mean by:

they cannot be followed by additional grammatical items in a sentence.

Or more specifically, what are "grammatical items"?

Y

[Kelebek]

Sentence+le has a different meaning. So, they are not interchangeable.

I think that we can take "pao" as a verb and "bu" as a object. What can be used after a object in other sentences with a mono verb can be used with these "verb+object" verbs.

For example, "Ta pao le bu lai." "Lai" in this sentence is a direction indicator and I think that here we can use it after "bu".

My writing skills in English is rather limited and I don't have advanced degree in Chinese. So, sorry for any possible mistakes, perhaps someone else can give a better answer.

[Joffrie]

The main point was really to find out whether or not you can split 跑步 with a 了 by saying 跑了步.

Yes, You can say that. 我去跑步了or我跑步去了or我跑步了or我跑了步，yet the last expression seems a little weird when being asked what did you do, though it means correct, since it is expressed with improper grammar.

In my opinion, 我跑了步 can only be used when being asked what did you do in the gym? yet you may also say 我跑步了。Yet when asked What did you do or when you wanna explain your dishevelment, you may not use 我跑了步, though we can understand that. I think it is about the sense of the language. 我去跑步了or我跑步去了 is the best way to use when you wanna explain what you did.

Similarly, 他跳了舞 can only be used when sb is asking you what did he do in the show?Sorry for I cannot tell you sth about grammar, though I am a native. Pls check some grammar book!