The hardest thing about separable verbs is not that they split — it's that they won't take an object. Because a 离合词 like 结婚 ("marry") already contains its object (婚 "marriage"), the slot after the verb is full, and you cannot say 结婚他 "marry him." Yet you constantly need to name the other person: whom you married, met, helped, or got angry at. Chinese solves this with two standard repairs, and this page teaches both, plus which one each common verb prefers. The mental picture to hold: *the object slot is already taken, so reroute the person — send them in front on a coverb, or tuck them inside as a possessor.
Why you can't just add the person
An ordinary transitive verb has an empty object slot: 帮 ("help") happily takes 我 → 帮我 ("help me"). But the compound 帮忙 spends that slot on 忙 ("a task"), so 我 has nowhere left to land — *帮忙我 is ungrammatical. The same blockage hits 见面 (面 = face is the object), 生气 (气 = temper), 聊天 (天 = chat), and every other 离合词. Recognizing this is half the battle; the other half is knowing the two ways out.
你能帮我吗？
nǐ néng bāng wǒ ma?
Can you help me? (informal) — plain verb 帮 takes an object directly; no problem here.
你能帮我一个忙吗？
nǐ néng bāng wǒ yí ge máng ma?
Can you do me a favor? (informal) — but 帮忙 must split, tucking 我 inside.
Repair 1: a coverb before the verb
The main strategy is to put the person in front of the verb, introduced by a coverb (a preposition-like verb). Which coverb depends on the relationship the verb expresses:
| Coverb | Sense | Verbs it pairs with | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 跟 / 和 (gēn / hé) | with (a two-way action) | 见面, 结婚, 离婚, 聊天, 开玩笑 | 跟他结婚 (marry him) |
| 给 (gěi) | for (someone's benefit) | 帮忙, 打电话 | 给我帮忙 (help me out) |
| 对 (duì) | toward (an attitude) | 生气, 感兴趣 | 对他生气 (be angry at him) |
| 为 (wèi) | on behalf of, for the sake of | 担心, 着急 | 为你担心 (worry about you) |
The logic behind the choice is worth learning, because it lets you predict the coverb for verbs not on this list. 跟/和 frames a reciprocal action — meeting, marrying, chatting all take two sides. 给 frames a service done for someone. 对 frames an emotion or stance directed at a target. 为 frames doing (or feeling) something on someone's behalf. Get the relationship right and the coverb follows.
我想跟你见面，谈谈这件事。
wǒ xiǎng gēn nǐ jiànmiàn, tántan zhè jiàn shì
I'd like to meet with you to talk this over. (neutral) — 跟你 before 见面.
他上个月跟女朋友结婚了。
tā shàng ge yuè gēn nǚpéngyou jiéhūn le
He married his girlfriend last month. (informal) — the bride rides on 跟, never after 结婚.
别对老师生气，他是为你好。
bié duì lǎoshī shēngqì, tā shì wèi nǐ hǎo
Don't be angry at the teacher — he means well for you. (informal) — 对 for the attitude's target.
我们为你担心了一整天。
wǒmen wèi nǐ dānxīn le yì zhěng tiān
We worried about you all day long. (neutral) — 为你 before 担心.
Repair 2: the person as a possessor inside
The second strategy inserts the person inside the compound, as the possessor of the built-in noun, using 的. This works cleanly with a small set of high-frequency verbs — you are literally saying "arouse his temper," "do my task," "make his joke":
| Verb | Possessor inside | Literal | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 生气 | 生他的气 | arouse his temper | be angry at him |
| 帮忙 | 帮我的忙 | do my task | help me |
| 见面 | 见他的面 / 见他一面 | see his face | meet him |
| 开玩笑 | 开他的玩笑 | make his joke | make fun of him |
妈妈生我的气了，因为我没写作业。
māma shēng wǒ de qì le, yīnwèi wǒ méi xiě zuòyè
Mom's angry at me because I didn't do my homework. (informal) — 我的 possesses 气.
谢谢你帮了我这么大的忙。
xièxie nǐ bāng le wǒ zhème dà de máng
Thank you for helping me out so much. (neutral) — 我 inside, and the whole thing modified by 这么大.
你别开他的玩笑了，他会不高兴。
nǐ bié kāi tā de wánxiào le, tā huì bù gāoxìng
Stop making fun of him, he'll get upset. (informal) — 他的 possesses 玩笑.
Which repair for which verb
Some verbs accept only one strategy, some accept both. The reciprocal verbs (结婚, 离婚, 聊天) essentially require the coverb; you don't say 结他的婚. The favor/anger/joke verbs (帮忙, 生气, 开玩笑) accept the *possessor-inside version and often prefer it in casual speech, while still allowing a coverb (给我帮忙, 对他生气). When in doubt, the coverb strategy is the safer default — it's grammatical with the whole class.
她跟前夫离婚以后过得很好。
tā gēn qiánfū líhūn yǐhòu guò de hěn hǎo
She's been doing well since divorcing her ex-husband. (neutral) — 离婚 only takes the coverb route.
我经常跟父母聊天。
wǒ jīngcháng gēn fùmǔ liáotiān
I chat with my parents often. (informal) — 跟父母 before 聊天.
Common Mistakes
1. A bare object after 结婚. Reciprocal verbs need 跟/和.
❌ 我要结婚他。
Incorrect — 结婚 already contains 婚; the person can't follow it.
✅ 我要跟他结婚。
wǒ yào gēn tā jiéhūn
I'm going to marry him. — 跟他 before the verb.
2. A friend tacked onto 见面. Route the person through 跟.
❌ 我明天见面朋友。
Incorrect — 面 is the object; 朋友 has nowhere to go on the end.
✅ 我明天跟朋友见面。
wǒ míngtiān gēn péngyou jiànmiàn
I'm meeting a friend tomorrow. — 跟朋友 before 见面.
3. 帮忙 + object. Put the person inside (帮我的忙 / 帮我一个忙) or use 给, or just use plain 帮.
❌ 你能帮忙我吗？
Incorrect — 忙 fills the object slot, so 我 can't follow 帮忙.
✅ 你能帮我个忙吗？
nǐ néng bāng wǒ ge máng ma?
Can you do me a favor? — 我 tucked between 帮 and 忙.
4. Making 生气 transitive. Use the possessor 生他的气 or the coverb 对他生气.
❌ 老板生气我了。
Incorrect — 生气 can't take 我 as a direct object.
✅ 老板生我的气了。
lǎobǎn shēng wǒ de qì le
The boss is angry at me. — the person becomes a possessor inside.
Key Takeaways
- A 离合词's object slot is already full, so a person can never be tacked on after it (结婚他, 见面朋友, *帮忙我 are all wrong).
- Repair 1 — coverb before the verb: 跟/和 (reciprocal: 结婚, 见面, 聊天), 给 (benefit: 帮忙), 对 (attitude: 生气), 为 (on behalf of: 担心).
- Repair 2 — possessor inside with 的: 生他的气, 帮我的忙, 见他一面, 开他的玩笑 — favored in casual speech for that small set.
- Reciprocal verbs prefer the coverb; favor/anger verbs allow both. When unsure, the coverb is the safe default — and with 帮忙 you can always fall back to plain 帮.
Now practice Chinese
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Start learning Chinese→Related Topics
- Separable Verbs (离合词): What They AreHSK 2 — Many two-syllable 'verbs' — 见面, 睡觉, 结婚, 帮忙, 生气 — are secretly verb + object compounds (离合词). The second syllable is a built-in object, so they can split apart and they refuse to take another object: not 结婚她 but 跟她结婚.
- 帮 / 帮助 / 帮忙 (Help)HSK 2 — 'Help' splits three ways in Chinese: 帮 + person + verb (帮我搬桌子), the fuller 帮助 (帮助学生学习), and the separable 帮忙 that already contains its object 忙 and can never take another (帮个忙, never 帮忙我).
- 跟 / 和 (gēn / hé): WithHSK 1 — 跟 (gēn) and 和 (hé) both mean 'with (someone)' — they put the co-participant before the verb: 跟朋友吃饭 (eat with friends), 和他一起去 (go together with him). 跟 is colloquial, 和 more neutral, and as noun-joiners ('X and Y') they link only nouns, never clauses.
- How Separable Verbs Split (见了一次面)HSK 3 — When you add aspect, duration, frequency, or a modifier to a 离合词, it slots INSIDE: 见了一次面 (met once), 睡了一个好觉 (had a good sleep), 结过婚 (has been married), 帮了我一个忙 (did me a favor). The 了/过 sticks to the verb half, never the whole word.