Xíguàn (习惯) both a noun and a verb?

[Steveo]

Hi all

I hope someone can help me with this.

According to my dictionary (and teacher), 习惯 is both a noun and a verb.

For example:

晚上, 我 习惯 预习 课文 (verb)

晚上, 我 预习课文的习惯 (noun)

(Morning, I usually practice text)

Are both of these examples correct, or am I misunderstanding?

Being honest I don't fully understand how something can be both a verb and a noun...!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[anonymoose]

Both of your examples are correct, but the second is not a complete sentence.

Many (possibly the majority) of verbs in chinese can function as nouns, and often adjectives and adverbs also. This isn't really so strange though, as even in English, some words, such as "look" for example, can be both a noun and verb (he gave me a look; he looked at me).

[rezaf]

You should say 晚上, 我 有 预习课文的习惯

[skylee]

晚上 ≠ morning (please check your dictionary)

[rezaf]

You can use 白天 which means at daytime .

Edit: but of course you can use 早上 if you mean early in the morning.

[Steveo]

Thank you for the replies.

@rezaf: "You should say 晚上, 我 有 预习课文的习惯"

Can I ask why this is?

Thanks

[roddy]

Because if 习惯 is a noun, you have it. Same way you'd say someone has a bad habit.

[rezaf]

Because you need a verb(有=to have). I was just thinking how to explain it in grammatical terms but 太費力了. Others can help better.

[aifeluna]

晚上, 我 有 预习课文的习惯。

By following grammar rules, you know a sentence must be consist of subject, verb, and object.(in order) So for this sentence, 我 is the subject, and 习惯 is the object. where is the verb? Add 有 to complete it. why use 有 but not other verbs, cause it's a very native usage.

hope that'll help.