Structure: S +对+O+ V

[MengJiaSheng]

I am sure everyone knows the different uses of 对 if followed by an object and a verb like:

我对中文有兴趣。

他们对外地人有偏见。

But is there a common pattern behind this? How do I know when a verb is used with this pattern and not just normally like S+V+O?

Thanks a lot

[mingke]

Actually 我对中文有兴趣 is not a S+对+O+V structure as you stated, because the real verb in this sentence is 有, but not 有兴趣. 兴趣 is the real O.

so comparatively, it should be:

我(S) [对中文] 有(V) 兴趣(O)

I [in Chinese] have interest

thus 对 plays an 'in' role in the sentence

hope it could help

[MengJiaSheng]

Probably it is a bad example but, there are a lot of verbs that dont simply use the S+V+O structure but require the use of 对+Verb.

Therefore I would like to know whether there is a rule involved that allows one to recognize verbs that require 对+Object.

[chrix]

Well, both your examples were of the form 有+O, so it mingke's answer was quite reasonable.

Usually 对 introduces adjuncts rather than objects but there might be some verbs I'm not thinking about right now, so can you give us more examples?

Though, one exception for rhythmic reasons is discussed in "Expressions of Written Chinese", this is when you want to use a chengyu as a predicate, it doesn't sound good to put an object behind it, so you have to prepose it:

小王对分配给他的工作总是患得患失。

*小王总是患得患失分配给他的工作。

学生对校长的态度忍无可忍。

*学生忍无可忍校长的态度。

(the asterisk * marks ungrammatical expressions)

Edited December 17, 2009 at 01:11 PM by chrix

[MengJiaSheng]

So it is rather about whether it sounds good to use 对+object?

One example without 有 would be:

他对足球着迷。

[chrix]

I don't think 迷着 is a valid example, because you can find plenty of examples with 迷着足球 on the internet. EDIT： oh you gave 着迷 + 足球. You can find 着迷足球 as well, but here the case looks weaker. But this is actually a 离合词, so you could argue 着 is the verb and 迷 the object.

All the examples I can find are either trivalent verbs or transitive ones that can be construed without 对.

Also, the rule about eurhythmic/structural reasons doesn't seem to limited to chengyu, my 虚词词典 says that you can move an object to the front of the verb with 对 for similar reasons (they call it "structure of the sentence"), e.g.

他对举行典礼很赞成。

对学习困难的学生要多帮助。

In the case of chengyu, the authors of the book claim that this is obligatory, but for the same reason as for the examples above.

[HashiriKata]

MengJiaSheng, instead of analyzing sentences like 我对中文有兴趣 in terms of "S +对+O+ V", which sounds mechanical, it may be easier to think of it in this general pattern:

"In relation to something (=the 对-phrase ) + Someone(=the subject) + Has some kind of feeling (=the verb phrase)".

After you've got this down, you may need to remember only that the subject in Chinese tends to (but doesn't have to) go to the front. In translation into English, one of course has to phrase the sentence in an English way, so "In relation to" may be more appropriately changed to "Towards", "In", or simply "To", depending on a particular sentence.