\tThe \u628a (b\u01ce) sentence is a useful structure for focusing on the result or influence of an action. It's really common in Mandarin, but can feel a bit strange for English speakers at first.<\/p>\n
\tA \u628a sentence (\u628a\u5b57\u53e5 in Chinese) is a sentence in which the object of the sentence (the noun that is having some action done to it) appears after the subject and before the verb, preceded with a \u628a.<\/p>\n
\tRemember, a basic sentence in Mandarin is formed with a subject-verb-object (SVO) word order, as in English:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\tA \u628a sentence shakes things up a bit, and you get this structure:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\tNote that the object has moved, and is preceded by \u628a. You now have SOV word order.<\/p>\n
\tThis is all well and good, but most students of Chinese, on learning about \u628a sentences for the first time, have the same reaction: "Why the hell would I ever use this structure? The SVO word order always works just fine, right?" The answer is: well, no… not always. It's true that \u628a sentences are often used to achieve somewhat subtle differences in emphasis, but there are also very good reasons to use \u628a sentences when a regular sentence just won't do. Take this sentence for example:<\/p>\n
\t√ <\/p>\n
\tHow would you say this without the \u628a construction? You might try this:<\/p>\n
\t× \u4f60 \u653e \u4e66 \u5728 \u684c\u5b50 \u4e0a \u3002
\tThe only problem is that the above sentence is not grammatical. You can't put an object right after a verb, and then put other modifiers of the verb after the object. Below, we'll go into more detail about when and how to use \u628a sentences.
\t <\/p>\n