Breakdown of zhōumò wǒ xiǎng sòng gěi māma yí jiàn lǐwù.
Questions & Answers about zhōumò wǒ xiǎng sòng gěi māma yí jiàn lǐwù.
In Chinese, time expressions usually come near the beginning, before the subject–verb part:
[Time] + [Subject] + [Verb] + [Object]
So:
- 周末 我 想 送给 妈妈 一件 礼物。
Weekend, I want to give my mom a present.
This is very natural in Chinese. You can also say:
- 我 周末 想 送给 妈妈 一件 礼物。
Both are fine. Putting 周末 first slightly emphasizes “as for the weekend…”.
Yes, you can say:
- 在周末 我 想 送给 妈妈 一件 礼物。
在周末 literally means “at/on the weekend”, but in many contexts 周末 alone is already enough and sounds a bit more natural and concise.
- 周末 – very common, neutral
- 在周末 – also correct; can sound a bit more formal or explicit
想 has several common meanings:
to want to / would like to
- 我想喝咖啡。 – I want to drink coffee.
to think / to consider
- 我想，他已经走了。 – I think he has already left.
In this sentence:
- 我 想 送给 妈妈 一件 礼物。
想 is “want to / would like to”. It expresses a desire or intention, but not as strong or definite as a fixed plan.
All three can relate to future actions, but with different nuances:
我想送给妈妈一件礼物。
I would like to give my mom a present.
→ Desire, idea in your mind.我要送给妈妈一件礼物。
I am going to / want to (for sure) give my mom a present.
→ Stronger intention, sometimes almost like a decision.我打算周末送给妈妈一件礼物。
I plan to give my mom a present this weekend.
→ A more concrete plan.
In your original sentence, 想 is appropriately soft: it’s your wish or intention for the weekend.
送 has several related meanings:
to give (as a present)
- 送礼物 – give a gift
to send / deliver
- 送信 – send a letter
to see someone off / escort
- 送你回家 – see you home
In this sentence:
- 送给 妈妈 一件 礼物
送 means “to give (as a gift)”. So the idea is “give a present (to someone)”.
Here 给 marks the recipient, similar to English “to” in “give a present to mom.”
- 送 – the act (to give as a present)
- 给 – indicates to whom
送给 妈妈 一件 礼物 = “give as a gift to mom a present”
You could see it as the pattern:
- 送 + 给 + [recipient] + [thing]
So it’s not redundant; 送 and 给 have different grammatical roles.
Yes:
- 送妈妈一件礼物
- 送给妈妈一件礼物
Both are correct and common. The meanings are almost the same:
- 送妈妈一件礼物
Verb 送 directly followed by the recipient 妈妈. - 送给妈妈一件礼物
Uses 给 to explicitly mark the recipient.
In everyday speech, both patterns are natural. Some speakers may feel 送给 sounds a little more explicit or slightly more formal, but the difference is small.
In this sentence, 给 is functioning more like a coverb/preposition meaning “to”:
- 送 给 妈妈 一件 礼物
→ give to mom a present
When 给 is the main verb, it usually directly means “to give”:
- 我给妈妈一件礼物。 – I give my mom a present.
Here, 送 is the main action verb, and 给妈妈 is the recipient phrase.
件 (jiàn) is a measure word (classifier) commonly used for:
- clothes, matters, events, and many general items.
For 礼物 (gift/present), the usual measure word is 件:
- 一件礼物 – one gift
个 (gè) is a very general measure word and sometimes used informally for many nouns, but 一件礼物 is more natural and standard.
礼物 is:
- 礼 (lǐ) – etiquette, courtesy, ritual
- 物 (wù) – thing, object
Together, 礼物 literally means “a thing of courtesy”, i.e., a gift or present.
This is due to tone sandhi for 一:
- Basic form: yī (1st tone)
- Before a 4th-tone syllable, 一 usually changes to 2nd tone (yí).
- Before other tones, it often changes to 4th tone (yì).
In 一件 (yí jiàn):
- 件 (jiàn) is 4th tone → so 一 changes to yí.
一件 → yí jiàn
This makes the phrase smoother and more natural to pronounce.
In Chinese, with close family members and some other very familiar people, you often omit 我的 (my) if the context is clear:
- 妈妈 – (my) mom
- 爸爸 – (my) dad
- 哥哥 – (my) older brother
So 给妈妈 is naturally understood as “to my mom” in most contexts, especially when the speaker is talking about their own family.
You can say 给我的妈妈, but it’s less common and sometimes feels overly explicit or even slightly distancing, unless you need to distinguish my mom from someone else’s mom.
Chinese doesn’t change the verb form for tense (no equivalent of “want / wanted / will want”). Instead, it relies on:
- time words: 周末, 明天, 下个月…
- aspect particles: 了, 过, 着
- other context
Here:
- 周末 (weekend) is a future time from the speaker’s perspective.
- 想 expresses a current intention about that future time.
So 周末 我 想 送给 妈妈 一件 礼物。 is naturally understood as “This weekend I want to give my mom a present.”
Yes, that’s also correct:
- 周末 我 想 送给 妈妈 一件 礼物。
- 周末 我 想 给 妈妈 送 一件 礼物。
Both are grammatical and common. The difference is very slight:
- 送给 妈妈 一件 礼物 – verb 送
- coverb 给
- recipient + object
- coverb 给
- 给 妈妈 送 一件 礼物 – coverb 给 + recipient, then main verb 送
Both mean: “(On) the weekend, I want to give Mom a present.”
Yes. Written Chinese does not normally use spaces between words, so the standard written form is:
- 我周末想送给妈妈一件礼物。
Spacing in your example is only for learners’ clarity. In real Chinese texts, it’s one continuous string of characters with punctuation.
Sometimes Chinese allows dropping the subject when it’s obvious from context, but in an isolated sentence like this, 周末想送给妈妈一件礼物 feels incomplete or slightly unnatural.
- In a conversation where it’s absolutely clear you are the one speaking about your own plans, it might be understood.
For learners and in normal clear speech, keep 我:
周末 我 想 送给 妈妈 一件 礼物。 – safer and more natural.