structure of a 'gei' sentence

[freefall]

The sentence is very happy! Okay, bad joke.

"qing3 zhi3 gei3 wo3 kan4" = "please show me (point it out)"

Can anyone explain the structure of this sentence? I know that gei3 wo3 is a prepositional phrase directing the action to wo3 (me), but it's strange that two two verbs (zhi and kan) are split up.

Could you say "qing gei wo zhi" ? Kan is look, right? How does that work in this sentence? The english translation has nothing to do with looking...

I also noticed this use of kan4 here :

"gei wo kan yi xia, xing ma?"

let it look (show) itself to me?

[HashiriKata]

"qing3 zhi3 gei3 wo3 kan4"

Please show it to me (so that I can have a look)

"gei wo kan yi xia, xing ma?"

Let me have a look, ok?

Of course, you can vary the above translations a bit to suit your taste. Note the link between kan and look in my translation. Very often in Chinese, you also have "Verb+kan" and it often means "Do(something) and see" (= try doing something).

By the way, Freefall, could you please confirm whether your sentence in another thread was taken from a text book:

"zuotian wanshang wo qu xiao gao jia wanr le"

[freefall]

it indeed comes from a textbook. i specified the exact name in the other thread.

thanks for the reply, but can I ask a little more?

my textbook says that gei forms a prep. phrase, which appears before a verb as an adverbial.

in english such adverbials can be removed and the verb will simply have no indirect object:

i throw him the ball -> remove him -> i throw the ball

can the same be done in chinese?

qing zhi gei wo kan -> remove gei wo -> qing zhi kan ?

if that does work, what is the translation? if not, there must be some linguistic difference which I would kindly ask you to explain.

thanks very much!

[HashiriKata]

can the same be done in chinese?

qing zhi gei wo kan -> remove gei wo -> qing zhi kan ?

I think a native speaker would be in the best position to answer this question. Meanwhile, what I can say is "qing zhi kan ", if it's acceptable, would mean something very different from "qing zhi gei wo kan". Now, just like you, I'm waiting to know what it could possibly mean!

[anonymoose]

can the same be done in chinese?

qing zhi gei wo kan -> remove gei wo -> qing zhi kan ?

A Google search of "qing zhi kan" (using characters, of course) shows up 6 results, so I'd say that's a fairly good indication that omitting "gei wo" is not normal.

As for explaining the "gei" sentence structure, I think at some point you have to accept some grammatical rules as axiomatic, and stop looking for a more fundamental pattern.

I'd say your example sentence is in a special class of "gei" sentences. Generally speaking, the "gei" part does act as a simple preposition phrase, and can be manipulated as such. But with actions like "show me", "sing to me", "read (a book) to me", it is standard practice to put the primary action verb before the "gei" phrase, and the resultant verb after the "gei" phrase:

qing zhi gei wo kan

Please show (it) to me

qing chang gei wo ting

Please sing to me

qing du gei wo ting

Please read to me

Perhpas someone with a better knowledge of grammar can give more of an explanation for this structure, but I think it's probably easier to just accept it and learn it as it is.

[Quest]

can the same be done in chinese?

qing zhi gei wo kan -> remove gei wo -> qing zhi kan ?

qing zhi kan is incorrect. The object in "qing zhi gei wo kan" is omitted, similar to "show me" --- me is only an indirect object. "gei + object + verb" is similar to the structure "let + object + verb". Unlike the English "let", the "gei" phrase can be affixed to a verb as an adverb. I guess the equivalent in English is "please point and let me see [it]". "gei +wo+ kan" can indeed be removed -- "qing zhi [ta]" or "please point [at] [it]".

[semantic nuance]

Very often in Chinese, you also have "Verb+kan" and it often means "Do(something) and see" (= try doing something).

Yes, but it always goes like Verb+kan kan or Verb Verb+ kan to mean what HK said.

Examples: 說看看..../說說看 想看看..../想想看....

I know that gei3 wo3 is a prepositional phrase directing the action to wo3 (me), but it's strange that two two verbs (zhi and kan) are split up.

How about reading it like this 'Please show (it) for me (to see), kind of a literal and awkward translation, but is it easier for you to understand?

Hope it helps!

[freefall]

How about reading it like this 'Please show (it) for me (to see), kind of a literal and awkward translation, but is it easier for you to understand?

Yes, that does help! Thanks, everybody.