了 with verb-object compounds

[thejest]

In verb-object compounds like 唱歌，跳舞，睡觉, etc. does 了 come between the verb and object, or afterwards?

昨天我跳舞了

昨天我跳了无

昨天我睡觉了

昨天我睡了觉

Which are correct?

[eya323]

I'm going to try to answer, but with two caveats: 1) My answer is completely stealing from a grammar text, but I just reviewed this chapter so it is at least fresh in my mind and 2) my Chinese isn't fabulous.

From p.122 of Schaum's Outline for Chinese Grammar: "If a verb suffixed with verb + 了 has a one-syllable object, verb + 了 typically occurs after the object. If the object is two or more syllables, verb + 了 occurs directly after the verb."

The book gives two examples:

我已经吃饭了。= I already ate.

我吃了早饭了。= I ate breakfast.

So (and hopefully someone will correct me if I am wrong), the following would be correct from your examples:

昨天我跳舞了

昨天我睡觉了

[chrix]

I think the answer would depend on the construction. Separable verbs are, well, separable, so they can all be split up given the right circumstances. There are circumstances where you'll find 吃了饭...

Also, the Schaum grammar here doesn't seem to distinguish between generic and specific objects here.

[xiaocai]

They all seem correct to me.

[creamyhorror]

I prefer

昨天我跳了舞 and

昨天我睡了觉

跳舞了 seems more like "have danced" to me. 昨天我睡觉了 seems like "I have slept yesterday" or even "I already slept yesterday", with the implication of the completion of a task:

昨天我做了功课 = Yesterday I did my homework

昨天我做功课了 = I [already] did my homework yesterday

Using X了Y seems more neutral:

昨天我跳了舞 = I danced yesterday

昨天我睡了觉 = I slept yesterday

Someone correct me if I'm wrong (by Taiwanese standards, anyway).

[zhxlier]

I think both are ok.