Word
朋友 对 我 说 加油。péngyou duì wǒ shuō jiāyóu.
Meaning
My friend says, ‘Keep it up!’ to me.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about péngyou duì wǒ shuō jiāyóu.
Why is 对 used before 我?
对 marks the person that the speech is directed toward.
So the pattern is:
A 对 B 说 + spoken content
which means:
A says ... to B
In this sentence:
- 朋友 = the speaker
- 我 = the listener
- 说 = to say
- 加油 = what was said
So 对我说 means say to me.
What is the word order in 朋友对我说加油?
The structure is:
朋友 + 对我 + 说 + 加油
A natural way to understand it is:
- 朋友 = friend
- 对我 = to me
- 说 = said
- 加油 = the words spoken
So the overall pattern is:
[speaker] + 对/跟 + [listener] + 说 + [content]
English often puts the listener after say:
A friend said to me...
Chinese commonly puts that listener phrase before 说:
朋友对我说...
What exactly does 加油 mean here?