About 把 sentences

[Skyelar]

This grammar wiki page on 把 sentences gives the following example of a sentence where it is necessary to use 把:

 

你把书放在桌子上。 "Put the book on the table."

 

The page goes on to say:

 

"How would you say this without the 把 construction? You might try this:

 

你放书在桌子上。

 

The only problem is that the above sentence is not grammatical. You can't put an object right after a verb, and then put other modifiers of the verb after the object. Below, we'll go into more detail about when and how to use 把 sentences."

 

My question is, why wouldn't "你在桌子上放书。" be correct? Don't adpositional phrases go between the subject and the verb in normal SVO sentences?

[anonymoose]

My question is, why wouldn't "你在桌子上放书。" be correct?

 

This structure is used to signify the location of the subject when the subject carries out the action. In other words, "you" are on the table when you are "putting the book" (which also doesn't really make sense).

[Skyelar]

Ah, that's right. Thank you.