<p>Different from other verb complements that you can place directly after the verb and before the object, the verb complement 来 and 去 require the object to be placed between the verb and them, </p>

<ul>
<li><p>Insert the object between the verb 回 and the verb complement 来 as in '(回)中国(来)' = '(back to) China (here)' connects the object with the verb in Chinese grammar</p></li>
<li><p>Place the object after both the verb 回 and verb complement 来 as in'(回来)中国' = '(back to here) China' , the verb and the object would become disjointed. </p></li>
</ul>

<p>The verb complement that can be placed directly after the verb and before the object here is 到, as in '回(到)中国' = 'back (at) China' not '回(来)中国' = 'back to (here) China'</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-01T04:45:37.930Z
2019-07-01T04:45:37.930Z
Tang Ho
<p>While perusing an article on allsetlearning.com about complements, I came across an interesting example of an ungrammatical sentence: 回来中国, where the object and complement are both placed after the verb.</p>

<p>The article suggests fixing this by rearranging it into: 回中国来, justifying it by saying "You can't say 回来中国 because 回 is the verb, 来 is the complement, and 中国 is the object. You can't put both a complement and an object after a single verb, but it's OK to put just a 来 or 去 after the object." In this corrected sentence, what is the function of 来？Is this serial verb construction? </p>

<p>In a similar vein, the article also recommends two alternative solutions: doubling the verb -- placing one before the object and one before the complement-- and moving the object to the front of the phrase. To this end, I came up with these two phrases: 回中国回来 and 中国回来。Although I realize the phrasing may be a bit awkward, I was wondering if they were grammatically correct.</p>

<p>Link to article: <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Direction_complement" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Direction_complement</a>
<a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Degree_complement" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Degree_complement</a></p>

<p>Thank You!</p>

<grammar><word-choice>
Fixing sentences with object and complement after a verb
# Fixing sentences with object and complement after a verb

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-06-30)

While perusing an article on allsetlearning.com about complements, I came across an interesting example of an ungrammatical sentence: 回来中国, where the object and complement are both placed after the verb.

The article suggests fixing this by rearranging it into: 回中国来, justifying it by saying "You can't say 回来中国 because 回 is the verb, 来 is the complement, and 中国 is the object. You can't put both a complement and an object after a single verb, but it's OK to put just a 来 or 去 after the object." In this corrected sentence, what is the function of 来？Is this serial verb construction?

In a similar vein, the article also recommends two alternative solutions: doubling the verb -- placing one before the object and one before the complement-- and moving the object to the front of the phrase. To this end, I came up with these two phrases: 回中国回来 and 中国回来。Although I realize the phrasing may be a bit awkward, I was wondering if they were grammatically correct.

Link to article: <https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Direction_complement>
<https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Degree_complement>

Thank You!

**Tags:** grammar, word-choice

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-07-01. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

Different from other verb complements that you can place directly after the verb and before the object, the verb complement 来 and 去 require the object to be placed between the verb and them,

* Insert the object between the verb 回 and the verb complement 来 as in '(回)中国(来)' = '(back to) China (here)' connects the object with the verb in Chinese grammar
* Place the object after both the verb 回 and verb complement 来 as in'(回来)中国' = '(back to here) China' , the verb and the object would become disjointed.

The verb complement that can be placed directly after the verb and before the object here is 到, as in '回(到)中国' = 'back (at) China' not '回(来)中国' = 'back to (here) China'


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