Random grammar question of the day

[Jan Finster]

I do not know if there is a "random grammar question of the day" thread already,...well, here it is! 

 

 

Today my question is about this sentence: 你 拿 人 钱 吗 

I translate it as: "do you take money?" 

What is the function of 人?

[889]

Context always helps, especially with pithy sentences.

[sanchuan]

V + indirect object + direct object

 

So that's: take + [from] people + money

 

Double object constructions aren't limited to datives and 给 words (pun not intended).

[sanchuan]

As an aside, I suspect that a single thread for random grammar questions will get confusing really fast. If it gets traction, posts will end up talking at cross purposes about all sorts of different topics. 

 

Chinese stackexchange has a more suitable format for discussing grammar questions at length in an asynchronous but orderly way, so I recommend that forum for such questions. 

 

This space might be more fun if we use it as a record of random grammar 'fails' (or some such), rather than questions - a log of things that stumped us for a moment in our reading or everyday life (such as ambiguous structures, counterintuitive collocations or garden-path sentences), rather than a list of serious questions each expecting a separate answer of its own.