How to use prepositions with indirect objects in Mandarin Chinese?

In this post, we’ll focus on Mandarin prepositions, such as 跟 (gēn, with), 对 (duì, to, toward), 给 (gěi, for), 对于 (duì yú, to), 关于 (guānyú, about) that are used with indirect objectsNo definition set for indirect objectsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. or recipients. But what is a preposition?

A preposition is a word, usually preceding a nounNo definition set for nounLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. or pronounNo definition set for pronounLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., that expresses a relation to another word or element in the sentence, as in “the man in the car,” “she arrived after dinner,” or “Did you do it for work?” In English, prepositions with the noun or pronoun usually come after the verb. For example, “I got a gift for you,” where “got” is the verb and “for you” is the preposition plus the pronoun. In Mandarin, however, prepositions and their nouns or pronouns usually come before the verb. Here are some examples:

There are many types of prepositions, based on the kind of relationship the preposition indicates. Curious about how they work? Let’s read on!

Like we said earlier, prepositions indicate the relation of a word to another element of the sentence. Consider the following example:

In this sentence, 对 (duì, toward) is a preposition that makes a connection between 中文 (Zhōngwén, Chinese) and 兴趣 (xìngqù, interest), so that you know that the interest is toward / in Chinese. 对中文 (duì Zhōngwén, toward Chinese), in this case, is a prepositional phrase. In a grammatical sense, the preposition 对 (duì, toward) introduces an indirect object 中文 (Zhōngwén, Chinese). Below are some prepositions in Mandarin that work similarly.

跟 (gēn, with) can be simply thought of as the Mandarin equivalent of “with.” The only difference is that the 跟 (gēn, with) phrase always goes before the verbNo definition set for verbLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., like this:

So, as you can see, instead of saying, “I talk with my mom often,” in Mandarin, you would actually say, “I with my mom talk often.” Easy, right? 跟 (gēn, with) is also commonly used with 一起 (yīqǐ, together) meaning “to do something with someone together.” For example:

Another way of using 跟 (gēn, with) is for comparison, like the example below. Take a look at our other post where we discuss the 跟 (gēn) ... 一样 (yīyàng, as...as…) structure.

对 (duì, to, toward) suggests a one-way action, meaning “to or toward someone/something.” Here’s how you would use it:

给 (gěi) can be both a verb, meaning “to give,” or a preposition, meaning “to” or “for.” When it is used as a preposition, it introduces the recipient of the object.

In this example, 给 (gěi, for) is followed by 你 (nǐ, you), which is the recipient of the direct objectNo definition set for direct objectLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. 电话 (diànhuà, phone call). Let’s take a look at two more examples:

To use 对于 (duìyú, with regard to) in Mandarin Chinese, follow the formula below:

To use 关于 (guānyú, about) in Mandarin Chinese, follow the formula below:

In this post, we saw some of the most common Mandarin prepositions for indirect objects. These indirect objects are usually the recipient of the direct object. It’s important to bear in mind that, unlike English, most prepositions with the indirect object in Mandarin go before the verb:

Many of the uses of these prepositions are idiomatic, so we simply have to memorize what prepositions go with what verbs. Now, let’s put your knowledge to work!