What Is a Coverb? Prepositions That Are Really Verbs | Chinese (Mandarin) Grammar

English marks where, with whom, for whom, and using what with a preposition — "eat at home," "call for you," "eat with chopsticks." Chinese does the same work with a coverb (介词, jiècí): a word that started life as a full verb, still takes an object, and — crucially — sits in front of the main verb. So "I eat at home" comes out as 我在家吃饭, literally "I at-home eat," with the whole "at home" phrase leading and the real action 吃饭 ("eat") trailing behind. The name says it: "co-verb" = a verb riding alongside the main one. This page is the hub for the whole Coverbs group; get the frame here and every individual coverb (location, target, instrument) slots into the same pattern.

The frame: coverb phrase before the main verb

The template never changes: Subject + [Coverb + Object] + [Main Verb + Object]. The coverb and its object form a package that sets the stage — and in Chinese the stage is always set before the action, the mirror image of English word order.

我在家吃饭。

wǒ zài jiā chī fàn

I eat at home. (informal) — coverb phrase 在家 ('at home') leads; the verb 吃饭 ('eat') follows.

我给你打电话。

wǒ gěi nǐ dǎ diànhuà

I'll call you. (informal) — 给你 ('to/for you') comes before the action 打电话 ('make a call').

我不太会用筷子吃饭。

wǒ bú tài huì yòng kuàizi chī fàn

I'm not very good at eating with chopsticks. (informal) — instrument phrase 用筷子 ('using chopsticks') precedes 吃饭.

有事跟我说。

yǒu shì gēn wǒ shuō

If something's up, tell me. (informal) — 跟我 ('with/to me') sits in front of 说 ('speak').

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The rule that catches every English speaker: in Chinese, the circumstances come before the verb — where, with whom, using what, for whom. If an English "at / with / to / for / from" phrase answers "under what circumstances," it moves in front of the Chinese verb as a coverb phrase, never after it.

The common coverbs

Almost every English preposition maps onto a coverb, and most of these were — and often still are — real verbs. Here are the everyday ones, grouped by the job they do:

Coverb	Role (≈ English)	Example	Meaning
在 (zài)	at / in (location)	在家工作	work at home
给 (gěi)	to / for (recipient)	给你打电话	call you
跟 (gēn)	with / to (a person)	跟他说	talk with/to him
用 (yòng)	with / using (instrument)	用筷子吃	eat with chopsticks
对 (duì)	toward / to (facing)	对我笑	smile at me
从 (cóng)	from (source)	从上海来	come from Shanghai
离 (lí)	from / away from (distance)	离这儿很近	close to here

我从上海来，在北京工作。

wǒ cóng Shànghǎi lái, zài Běijīng gōngzuò

I'm from Shanghai and work in Beijing. (neutral) — two coverbs: 从 (source) and 在 (location), each before its verb.

银行离我家很近。

yínháng lí wǒ jiā hěn jìn

The bank is close to my home. (neutral) — 离 marks the distance-reference before the adjective 近.

别对我大声说话。

bié duì wǒ dàshēng shuōhuà

Don't speak to me so loudly. (informal) — 对我 ('toward me') sets the direction of 说话.

Same character, two jobs: coverb vs full verb

Because coverbs are recycled verbs, several of the most common ones — 在, 到, 给 — still moonlight as full verbs. The same character can be the main verb or a coverb, and one simple test tells them apart: is there another verb after it? If yes, it's a coverb; if it stands alone as the predicate, it's the full verb.

我在家。

wǒ zài jiā

I'm at home. (informal) — 在 is the whole predicate, so it's the full verb 'be at'.

我在家工作。

wǒ zài jiā gōngzuò

I work at home. (informal) — now 工作 is the main verb, so 在家 is a coverb phrase marking where.

This double life is worth its own study — the full position test (before the verb → coverb, after it → complement, alone → verb) lives on the 在 / 到 / 给 as verb vs coverb page, which first raised this coverb-vs-full-verb identity question. For a hands-on drill of the pattern with the everyday five, see coverb + verb. And because a coverb keeps its verb-like habits, negation lands on the coverb, not the main verb:

我不跟他说话。

wǒ bù gēn tā shuōhuà

I'm not speaking to him. (informal) — 不 negates the coverb 跟, not the verb 说话.

The Coverbs group

This page frames a whole group. From here, the individual pages drill down: location coverbs like 在 (at/in), target/recipient coverbs like 给 (to/for), instrument 用, plus the coverb-vs-verb split and the localizers (里/上/下) that pin down exactly where. Every one of them obeys the frame you just learned: coverb phrase first, main action second.

Common Mistakes

1. Placing the coverb phrase after the main verb (English order). The circumstance phrase must lead — this is the error English speakers make most.

❌ 我吃饭在家。

Wrong order — the place of an action comes before the verb: 我在家吃饭.

✅ 我在家吃饭。

wǒ zài jiā chī fàn

I eat at home. — coverb phrase 在家 first.

2. Dropping the coverb altogether. You can't just place two nouns around a verb; the relationship needs a coverb to mark it.

❌ 我他说话。

Incorrect — 'I' and 'him' need a coverb to link them: 我跟他说话.

✅ 我跟他说话。

wǒ gēn tā shuōhuà

I'm talking with him. — 跟 marks the person you speak with.

3. Negating the main verb instead of the coverb. 不/没 attaches to the coverb.

❌ 我跟他不说话。

Marked / awkward — standard negation goes on the coverb: 我不跟他说话.

✅ 我不跟他说话。

wǒ bù gēn tā shuōhuà

I'm not speaking to him. — 不 on the coverb 跟.

4. Treating a coverb as if it were the whole verb. Coverb 给 ("to/for") still needs a main verb after it — "call you" is 给你 + 打电话, not 给你 alone.

❌ 我给你电话。

Incorrect for 'I'll call you' — coverb 给你 still needs a main verb: 给你打电话.

✅ 我给你打电话。

wǒ gěi nǐ dǎ diànhuà

I'll call you. — coverb 给你 + main verb 打电话.

Key Takeaways

A coverb (介词) is a verb-derived word that takes an object and forms a phrase before the main verb, doing the job of an English preposition.
The unbreakable frame: Subject + [Coverb + Object] + [Main Verb + Object] — 在家吃饭, 给你打电话, 用筷子吃.
Chinese front-loads the circumstances; English trails them: 我在家吃饭, never *我吃饭在家.
Many coverbs (在, 到, 给) are also full verbs — the test is whether another verb follows.
Since a coverb is half-verb, negation (不/没) attaches to the coverb: 不跟他说话.

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