Learn Hardcore Chinese: Xuéxiào gěi le tā jiǎngxuéjīn, lǎoshī yě hěn zhīchí tā jìxù xuéxí. - The school gave him a scholarship, and the teacher also strongly supports him in continuing to study.

学校给了他奖学金 literally means “The school gave him a scholarship.”
The structure is: Subject + 给 + (了) + recipient + thing given
→ 学校 + 给 + 了 + 他 + 奖学金

Here it is not the preposition use of 给 (like in 给他打电话 “call him”) but the main action verb “give.”

Why do we need 了 (le) after 给, and what does it mean here?

了 after 给 marks a completed action (perfective aspect).

学校给了他奖学金 = “The school gave him a scholarship (the action is completed).”
Without 了: 学校给他奖学金 can sound more like a general situation or rule, e.g. “The school gives him a scholarship” (regularly / generally), depending on context.

So 了 here tells us that the scholarship has already been awarded, not just that it happens in general.

Can I move 了 to the end and say 学校给他奖学金了? Is that correct?

Yes, 学校给他奖学金了 is grammatical, but the nuance is slightly different.

学校给了他奖学金: 了 directly marks the verb 给 as completed. Very neutral and common.
学校给他奖学金了: 了 works more like a sentence-final particle, often sounding more like you’re informing someone of a new situation or emphasizing a change: “(You know what?) The school has given him a scholarship.”

Both are understood as past/completed, but the first is more standard and neutral.

Why is the order 给了他奖学金 and not 给了奖学金他?

With verbs like 给, Chinese usually follows:

Verb + recipient + thing given
→ 给 + 他 + 奖学金

So:

✅ 给了他奖学金 (“gave him a scholarship”)
❌ 给了奖学金他 is ungrammatical and sounds wrong to native speakers.

The typical “double object” order in Chinese is recipient first, then thing.

Is 学校给了他奖学金 more like “gave him a scholarship” once, or “gives him a scholarship regularly”?

With 了, it is understood as a specific completed event:

学校给了他奖学金 → “The school gave him a scholarship (this time).”

If you wanted to express something habitual or regular, you would normally omit 了 and/or add adverbs like 每年 (every year):

学校每年给他奖学金。 – “The school gives him a scholarship every year.”

What’s the difference between 奖学金 (jiǎngxuéjīn) and 奖金 (jiǎngjīn)?

奖学金 = scholarship – money or funding specifically for study/education.
奖金 = bonus / prize money – money given as a reward (for good work, winning a competition, etc.), not necessarily related to study.

So in this sentence, 奖学金 is exactly the right word for “scholarship.”

Why is there just a comma (，) between the two parts instead of 和 (hé) or 而且 (érqiě)?

Chinese often links two related clauses simply with a comma, without a conjunction.

学校给了他奖学金，老师也很支持他继续学习。
= “The school gave him a scholarship, and the teachers also really support him in continuing his studies.”

You could add explicit connectors:

学校给了他奖学金，而且老师也很支持他继续学习。 – “The school gave him a scholarship, and moreover the teachers really support him…”
学校给了他奖学金，老师也很支持他继续学习。 (original) is already natural and fluent; the comma alone works like “and” here.

What does 也 (yě) add in 老师也很支持他继续学习? Can I remove it?

也 means “also / too / as well.”

老师也很支持他继续学习 = “The teachers also really support him in continuing his studies.”
It connects their support to the first clause: not only did the school give him a scholarship, the teachers also support him.

If you remove it:

老师很支持他继续学习。 – “The teachers really support him in continuing his studies.” (fact on its own, without explicitly linking it to the previous clause as an “also.”)

So it’s optional grammatically, but it changes the logical connection.

Why do we need 很 (hěn) before 支持 (zhīchí)? Can I just say 老师也支持他继续学习?

很 here is a degree adverb, roughly “very” or “really.”

老师也很支持他继续学习。 – “The teachers really / strongly support him in continuing his studies.”
老师也支持他继续学习。 – “The teachers also support him in continuing his studies.” (more neutral, less emphasis)

With many verbs expressing attitude or feeling (like 支持, 喜欢, 想), 很 is often added to sound more natural and to soften or intensify the statement. It’s not strictly required, but it is very common and often sounds better.

Why is the order 也很支持 and not 很也支持 or 支持也很?

In Chinese, adverbs usually come in a fixed order before the verb. A common pattern is:

也 (also) + 很 (very) + Verb

So:

✅ 老师也很支持他继续学习。
❌ 老师很也支持他继续学习。
❌ 老师支持也很他继续学习。

Here, 也 (also) comes first, marking that this action is “also” happening, and 很 (very) immediately modifies 支持 (support).

Why is it 支持他继续学习 and not something like 支持他学习继续?

The structure is:

支持 + person + 继续 + verb

支持他继续学习 = “support him (to) continue studying.”

Here:

他 is the person being supported.
继续学习 is the action he is supported in doing: 继续 (“to continue”) + 学习 (“to study”).

学习继续 or 学习继续他 would be unnatural; 继续 normally comes before the verb it modifies: 继续学习, 继续工作, etc.

What is the difference between 支持他继续学习 and 继续支持他学习?

They focus on different things:

支持他继续学习
→ “Support him in continuing his studies.”
Focus: his studying continues.
继续支持他学习
→ “Continue to support him in his studies.”
Focus: the support continues.

So 支持他继续学习 (the one in your sentence) emphasizes that he keeps studying, helped by the teacher’s support.

How is past tense expressed in this whole sentence? There is no past tense verb form like in English.

Chinese does not change verb forms for tense (no -ed, -s, etc.). Instead, it uses:

Aspect particles like 了 to show completed actions.
Context and time expressions to show when something happens.

In 学校给了他奖学金，老师也很支持他继续学习。:

给了 (给 + 了) shows the giving has been completed → past.
The second clause 老师也很支持他继续学习 could be understood as present or general, but in the context of the first clause, it can often be read as describing the current or ongoing situation (they support him now / as a result).

There is no explicit tense marking on 支持; you infer timing from context.

Is this sentence formal, or can I use it in everyday spoken Chinese?

The sentence is neutral and works in both spoken and written Chinese.

You could say it in conversation:
学校给了他奖学金，老师也很支持他继续学习。
You could also see it in a written context like a report or an article.

It’s clear, standard Mandarin with no strong slang or high-formality markers.

Why is 他 (tā) used, and what if we want to say “her” instead?

他 is the standard written pronoun for “he / him.”

For “she / her”, written Chinese uses 她:

学校给了她奖学金，老师也很支持她继续学习。

In spoken Mandarin, 他 and 她 are pronounced exactly the same (tā), so you only see the gender difference in writing, not in pronunciation.