Learn Hardcore Chinese: tā zhuānmén qù shūdiàn gěi māma mǎi yì běn shū. - She is going especially to the bookstore to buy a book for her mom.

It implies she did not just happen to be there; going to the bookstore was specifically for buying this book for her mom.
In English, the feeling is close to:
- “She specially went to the bookstore…”
- “She made a special trip to the bookstore…”
- “She went specifically to the bookstore…”

So 专门 modifies the action that follows (going and buying) and highlights the intentional, dedicated nature of the trip.

Why is the word order 去书店给妈妈买一本书 and not something like “给妈妈去书店买一本书”?

Chinese generally prefers the order:

Subject + (adverb) + 去 + Place + 给 + Recipient + Verb + Object

So here:

她 = subject
专门 = adverb (manner / attitude)
去书店 = go to the bookstore (destination)
给妈妈 = for mom (beneficiary)
买一本书 = buy a book (main action)

The natural order is:
Where she goes → for whom → do what.

给妈妈去书店买一本书 is not natural, because 给妈妈 is not something that should come before the motion verb 去. You usually don’t put the recipient before “go to [place]” like that.

Very natural variations are:

她专门去书店给妈妈买一本书。
她专门去书店买一本书给妈妈。

These two are both okay. The original one (给妈妈买一本书) slightly emphasizes “buying (it) for mom” as a unit.

What does 给 (gěi) mean here? Is it “to” or “for”?

In this sentence, 给 introduces the beneficiary of the action:

给妈妈买一本书
buy a book for mom / for my mom

So 给妈妈 means “for mom” (the person who benefits from the action), not “give to mom.”

Compare:

给妈妈买一本书
- Literally: “for mom buy one book”
- Meaning: “buy a book for mom”
给妈妈书 (by itself)
- This would sound like: “give mom a book”
- Here 给 is “give to,” and 妈妈 is the indirect object (“to mom”).

So 给 can mean:

“for” (marking a beneficiary): 给妈妈买…
“to give” (as a main verb): 给妈妈一本书

In this sentence, 给 is a preposition (or coverb-like element), not the main verb. The main verb is 买 (buy).

Why do we need 一本 (yì běn) before 书 (shū)? Why can’t we just say 买书?

Chinese usually needs a measure word (classifier) when a noun is counted or specified as a single thing.

一 = the number “one”
本 = the measure word for books, notebooks, etc.
书 = “book”

So 一本书 literally is “one volume book,” which is how you say “a book / one book.”

You can say 买书 (“buy books / buy book(s)” in general) if you don’t care about the number or it’s a general statement:

我喜欢买书。
I like buying books. (books in general)

But for a specific single book, you normally say:

买一本书 = buy a (one) book

In this sentence, she makes a special trip to buy one particular book, so 一本书 is natural and expected.

Is 一本 mandatory here? Could the sentence be 她专门去书店给妈妈买书?

Yes, you can say:

她专门去书店给妈妈买书。

This is grammatically correct. The difference is:

买一本书
- Emphasizes one specific book.
- Sounds a bit more concrete, like a particular purchase.
买书
- More general: “buy books / do book buying.”
- Could be one or more books; number is not specified.

In many real-life contexts, both would be understandable and natural, but:

If the speaker knows it’s just one book, 一本 is more precise.
If the focus is just that she’s buying books for her mom, not how many, 买书 is fine.

There is no 了 (le) here. How do I know if this is past, present, or future? Where could 了 go?

Chinese does not mark tense (past/present/future) the way English does. The sentence:

她专门去书店给妈妈买一本书。

could be interpreted as:

She went (past) especially to the bookstore to buy a book for her mom.
She is going / goes especially to the bookstore to buy a book for her mom.
She will go especially to the bookstore to buy a book for her mom.

Context (surrounding sentences, time words like “yesterday / tomorrow,” etc.) clarifies the time.

To show a completed past action, you could add 了:

After the verb 去:
- 她专门去了书店给妈妈买一本书。
- Focus: She did go (the going is completed).
After the verb 买:
- 她专门去书店给妈妈买了一本书。
- Focus: She did buy a book (the buying is completed).
After the whole clause (sometimes):
- 她专门去书店给妈妈买了一本书了。 (colloquial, with some extra emotion or emphasis)

In many everyday contexts, Chinese speakers will omit 了 if the time is already clear from context (e.g., “昨天她专门去书店给妈妈买一本书。”).

What is the difference between 去书店 and 在书店 here? Could we say 她专门在书店给妈妈买一本书?

去书店 = “go to the bookstore” (movement toward a place)
在书店 = “at the bookstore” (being located there)

Your original sentence emphasizes that she goes (makes a trip) to the bookstore:

她专门去书店给妈妈买一本书。
She specially goes to the bookstore to buy a book for her mom.

If you say:

她专门在书店给妈妈买一本书。

this means:

“She specially at the bookstore buys a book for her mom.”
It focuses more on the place where she buys the book (the action takes place in the bookstore), not on the idea of making a special trip.

Both are grammatical, but:

去书店 → highlights the trip.
在书店 → highlights the location of the action.

In the sense of “she made a special trip to the bookstore,” 去书店 is the better choice.

Can I change the position of 专门? For example: 她去书店专门给妈妈买一本书 or 她去书店给妈妈专门买一本书?

Yes, you can move 专门 a bit, and the sentence stays understandable, but the most natural and common position is:

她专门去书店给妈妈买一本书。

Here are some possibilities:

她专门去书店给妈妈买一本书。
- Very natural.
- 专门 modifies the whole action “go to the bookstore to buy a book for mom.”
- Sense: She specially went to do this.
她去书店专门给妈妈买一本书。
- Also possible.
- Feels like 专门 is focused more on “for mom”: It’s especially for her mom that she buys it (as opposed to buying for other people).
- Still natural, but slightly different nuance.
她去书店给妈妈专门买一本书。
- Grammatically possible but sounds a little awkward/marked in everyday speech.
- Strong emphasis on the buying for mom being special, which can feel overly heavy in many contexts.

If you’re not sure, put 专门 right after the subject (她专门...) — that’s usually safest and most natural.

Why is there no word like “to” before 书店? Shouldn’t it be something like “去到书店”?

In Chinese, 去 (qù) itself already carries the idea of “go to”. So:

去书店 literally is “go bookstore,” but the meaning is “go to the bookstore.”

You only say 去到 in some specific patterns or for emphasis, but it’s not needed here and would usually sound awkward:

她专门去到书店给妈妈买一本书。 → This sounds unnatural in modern standard Mandarin for this meaning.

So the normal pattern is:

去 + place
- 去北京 (go to Beijing)
- 去学校 (go to school)
- 去书店 (go to the bookstore)

No extra preposition like English “to” is required.

Is 给妈妈买一本书 the same as 买一本书给妈妈? Which is more natural?

Both are grammatical and common:

给妈妈买一本书
- Structure: 给 + recipient + 买 + object
- Slight emphasis on “for mom” as part of the purpose: “for mom, (I) buy a book.”
买一本书给妈妈
- Structure: 买 + object + 给 + recipient
- Feels more like describing the transfer: “buy a book and (then) give it to mom.”

In practice:

In spoken Mandarin, both are very common.
In your sentence, both can be used:
- 她专门去书店给妈妈买一本书。
- 她专门去书店买一本书给妈妈。

Neither sounds wrong; the first is slightly more typical in many regions, but usage varies. As a learner, you can safely use both.

Could we use 为 (wèi) instead of 给 (gěi), as in 为妈妈买一本书? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

她专门去书店为妈妈买一本书。

为 (wèi) also means “for (the sake of)” and emphasizes purpose / motivation.

Subtle difference:

给妈妈买一本书
- Very everyday, colloquial.
- Neutral and widely used in spoken Mandarin.
为妈妈买一本书
- Slightly more formal or literary in feel.
- Emphasizes you’re doing this for the sake of mom, possibly with a bit more emotional or dutiful tone.

In casual speech, 给妈妈买一本书 is more common and more natural.

Can we drop 她 (tā) and just say 专门去书店给妈妈买一本书?

Yes, in the right context you can drop 她. Chinese often omits subjects when they are clear from context.

If everyone already knows who you’re talking about, you might say:
- 专门去书店给妈妈买一本书。
- (She / I / he) went especially to the bookstore to buy a book for mom.

But if this is a standalone sentence with no prior context, it’s usually better to keep 她, so the subject is clear:

她专门去书店给妈妈买一本书。

As a learner, when writing or speaking out of context, keep the subject. You can safely omit it only when the context makes it obvious.

Is there a more “literal” word-by-word breakdown of this sentence to help me see the structure?

Yes. Here’s a more literal gloss:

她　专门　去　书店　给　妈妈　买　一　本　书。
she specially go bookstore for mom buy one CL book

So structurally:

她 – she
专门 – specially / with the special purpose of
去书店 – go to the bookstore
给妈妈 – for (her) mom
买一本书 – buy one book

A very literal English-like order would be:

She specially goes to the bookstore for mom (in order) to buy one book.

This kind of breakdown is useful to see that Chinese tends to go:

Subject → attitude/degree adverb → motion (to place) → beneficiary → main action (verb + object).