5 votes
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Can 同学 really be used as a separable verb?

To say "no" is rather prescriptive. The phrase "同过 X 年学" or simply "同过学" is not so uncommon in real life. Pro-tip for advanced learners of Chinese: nouns can sometimes be ...
Betty's user avatar
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5 votes
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Are there common rules about the usage of verb-object compounds?

A single character verb like 吃, 学 and 说 are typically more general, which mean they generally contain more than one meaning and can create ambiguity if there's not enough context Two characters verb ...
Tang Ho's user avatar
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4 votes
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Does 下 in 吃不下饭 convey any meaning?

Yes it does. I won't go into the details of your textbook example. It may not be the best one because in that sentence the 下 could probably be replaced by some other result complement and roughly keep ...
blackgreen's user avatar
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4 votes

What's the meaning of 龙舟队分哪个两个组?

龙舟队分哪个两个组? I think it is a typo. remove the extra 个 and write 龙舟队分哪两个组?(dragon boat teams divided into which two groups?) make the most sense 龙舟队分[哪两个组]? 龙舟队分[男子组和女子组] 龙舟队分[成人组和少年组] 龙舟队分[业余组和职业组] ...
Tang Ho's user avatar
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4 votes
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Using Dual-Character Verbs When Not Necessary

Some two-character verbs or verbal phrases are constructed as verb-object phrases (seperable verbs), e.g. 吃饭 (eat a meal) and 说话 (speak words). As they already have an object, you usually cannot have ...
xngtng's user avatar
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4 votes

Which online resources (preferably open source / cc) does contain info on which Chinese verbs is separable?

The Pleco app contains this information. It was actually confusing me for a while, but the //'s in the pinyin indicate verb separability. Pleco includes some free dictionaries, but it also allows you ...
Stumpy Joe Pete's user avatar
4 votes
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Is there a comprehensive list of separable verbs (离合动词) anywhere?

I agree with the earlier answer, but I had the same question! So if it can help, I found an interesting information at Chinese Grammar Wiki's list of separable verbs and especially at “Separable ...
faure's user avatar
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2 votes

Double (overlapping) separable verbs?

What I can tell you is that this kind of structure is to express emphasis. '她惊讶得说不出话来' has the same meaning as '她惊讶得话都说不出来'. But the latter uses the inverted pattern, which is always used as for ...
Fanxu Meng's user avatar
2 votes

Using Dual-Character Verbs When Not Necessary

My textbook explains this grammar. Action verbs 说,看,吃,写,画,唱,洗,睡,etc. are usually followed by a noun-phrase. I speak English. 我说英文。 I eat noodles. 我吃面。 I read a book. 我看书。 If you are generalising ...
Kantura's user avatar
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2 votes

Using Dual-Character Verbs When Not Necessary

If you add somethings after single character verb, sometimes it can be strange and not acceptable . Use 吃炒麵 is ok. 吃飯炒麵 is not acceptable. 說話德文 is not acceptable. While sometimes it is still ...
000's user avatar
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2 votes

Can 同学 really be used as a separable verb?

同学 is strictly a noun, 我和他同过三年学 is ungrammatical The classical version of 同学 is 同窗 同窗 is mainly a noun, but it can be used as a verb in classical style speech Example: 你我同窗三載 - you and I studied ...
Tang Ho's user avatar
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2 votes
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Is 起草 a separable verb?

Is 起草 a separable verb? Yes, in the dictionary《现代汉语词典》, separable words (离合词) are indicated with the symbol "//" in their pinyin, and 起草 is indicated as qǐ//cǎo. 起草 is a verb+object ...
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com's user avatar
2 votes

他游了一个小时的泳. What is the grammar rule for separating 游 and 泳

It's because grammatically 游泳 is 离合词, which means it's separatable. Baidu also gives other examples there, such as 睡觉, 吃饭,etc. So, we can say 睡一个小时觉,吃个便饭,etc. 的 is 助词(auxiliary word) used after an ...
dan's user avatar
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2 votes
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Can 出神 be split by something other than an aspect marker?

Most of the verbs that are made up of two verbs are inseparable Most of the verbs that are made up of a verb and a noun are separable Example: 攻(v) + 擊(v) = 攻擊 (attack) 攻擊(v) is inseparable. It has to ...
Tang Ho's user avatar
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1 vote

When and why is 的 used with an object in the middle between compound verbs?

The word (or words) 生气, 帮忙, 说话,吃饭,结婚, etc are common in their formation, which is a verb + object (VO) structure. Those words are flexible in constructing sentences. For example, (1) Insert an ...
PdotWang's user avatar
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1 vote

Can 同学 really be used as a separable verb?

I consider the speaking is correct, as 同学 is composed of two words "同" and "学", put the words together, it becomes a noun - "schoolmate", but the words can be used ...
r13's user avatar
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1 vote

Can 同学 really be used as a separable verb?

The answer is no. Splitting 同 and 学 is usually seen in southern dialects, and is by no means the standard usage. It does not make sense both in modern context and archaic language. You can use ...
苏勋宗's user avatar
1 vote

Does 下 in 吃不下饭 convey any meaning?

As indicated by other answers, 下 here is a resultative complement. Compare 饭吃不下 to 饭不吃. 饭不吃 implies that you won't eat anything at all because you 着急. 饭吃不下 implies that you try to eat something but ...
dan's user avatar
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1 vote

Is 起草 a separable verb?

这封信你来起个草吧。"You, (please) to write/initiate the preliminary (草) for this letter." Or, "This time, you write/initiate the preliminary (草) letter". In both cases, there is only one ...
r13's user avatar
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1 vote

Is 起草 a separable verb?

Read this answer and you would know why a [verb + noun compound word] like 起草 can be separated into [verb and noun] and treated as such Is "投个好胎" a proper set phrase/idiom? What does it mean?...
Tang Ho's user avatar
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1 vote

他游了一个小时的泳. What is the grammar rule for separating 游 and 泳

You probably should not try to use any grammatical rules to understand the structure here. Since generally, We do not speak after trying to figure out what we say is a "离合词" or not and ...
Peter Whang's user avatar
1 vote

What's the meaning of 龙舟队分哪个两个组?

I think this sentence is not perfectly grammatical. You can analyze it as follows: 龙舟队 The Dragon Boat Team 分 (divide into, assign to) 哪个 which (one) 两个组 two groups It doesn't sound grammatical to ...
blackgreen's user avatar
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1 vote

What's the meaning of 龙舟队分哪个两个组?

龙舟队 --- (The) Dragon boat team 分 --- separated / grouped into 哪个 --- which 两个 --- two 组? --- groups?
Wayne Cheah's user avatar
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1 vote
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Double (overlapping) separable verbs?

说(v): say 话(n): words 说话 = say(v) + words(n) The combination of 说话, was made into a single verb for "to speak/ to talk" When we want to express "can't speak" we can treat "说话&...
Tang Ho's user avatar
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1 vote

Is there a comprehensive list of separable verbs (离合动词) anywhere?

separate verb? In modern Chinese grammar they are called 动宾短语(a phrase with structure of verb + objective). It's a huge group and I don't believe anyone can give you a complete list. 吃饭 睡觉 走路 洗脸 ...
gcd0318's user avatar
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