change-of-state action verbs
13.6- ‘to read’ is 看书/看書 kàn shū
‘to read a newspaper’ is 看报/看報 kàn bào and not
*看书报/看書報 kànshū bào.
The direct object may be absent when it can be inferred from the context of the sentence.
Q: 你吃了晚饭吗？ A: 吃了。
你吃了晚飯嗎？
Nǐ chī le wǎnfàn ma? Chī le.
Did you eat dinner? I ate (dinner).When it receives special emphasis, the direct object may occur at the beginning of the sentence
as the topic, instead of after the verb.
那个电影我还没看过。
那個電影我還沒看過。
Nàge diànyǐng wǒ hái méi kànguo.
That movie, I still haven’t seen (it).C57.1.2.113.6 Change-of-state action verbs
Change-of-state verbs describe events in which the action of the verb results in a change. Here
are some examples of change-of-state verbs.
坐 zuò to sit (a change from standing to sitting)
站 zhàn to stand (a change from sitting to standing)
放 fàng to put/place (a change of location)
挂/掛 guà to hang (a change of location)
离开/離開 líkāi to depart (a change of location)
穿 chuān to put on (clothing – on the torso and legs)
戴 dài to put on (clothing – on the head, neck, and hands)
病 bìng to become sick (a change of health)
到 dào to arrive (a change of location from ‘not here’ to ‘here’)
去 qù to go (a change of location from ‘here’ to ‘not here’)13.6.1 change-of-state verbs and duration
Change-of-state verbs have no duration. However, some change-of-state actions bring about a
resulting state. Verbs that indicate this state may be suffixed with 着/著 zhe to focus on the
ongoing nature of the state. Here are some examples. A list of additional change-of-state verbs
with related ongoing states is presented in 13.6.2.孩子都在屋子里坐着。
孩子都在屋子裡坐著。
Háizi dōu zài wūzi li zuòzhe.
The children are all sitting in the room.
墙上挂着一张画儿。
牆上掛著一張畫兒。
Qiángshàng guàzhe yī zhāng huàr.
There is a painting hanging on the wall.