动词 + 方式／工具／材料／目的宾语
verb + object of manner, tool, material or purpose
Structure
动词 + 名词（怎么做：存定期 · 用什么工具：写毛笔 · 用什么材料：浇水 · 为了什么：跑贷款）
What it means
The noun after a verb is not always the thing acted on: it can be the manner, tool, material or aim. English needs a preposition; Chinese does not.
How it is built
Verb + noun of how / with what / for what: 存定期, 写毛笔, 刷油漆, 跑贷款. 爷爷写了五十年毛笔 (Grandpa has written with a brush for fifty years).
When to use it
These pairs are fixed and mostly spoken; learn them as you meet them (寄快递, 刷卡, 考研究生, 吃食堂). In 浇水 the water is what you pour, not what you water.
Watch out
Don’t invent new ones: ✗吃筷子 ✓用筷子吃. When unsure, 用… (tool or material) or 为了… (aim) always works.
Examples
他把年终奖存了定期，三年以后再取。
He put his year-end bonus in a fixed-term deposit, to be taken out in three years.
爷爷写了五十年毛笔，字写得特别好。
Grandpa has written with a brush for fifty years, and his calligraphy is superb.
老张这个月一直在外面跑贷款，几乎没在办公室待过。
Lao Zhang has been out all month chasing a loan and has hardly set foot in the office.
Learn this in Lesson 122 · HSK 7–9: 九二四行情 (Finance news: the September 2024 rally)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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