<p>Your question: How to understand the structure of the sentence 这个土豆烧牛肉香极了? What is the function of 烧 in 土豆烧牛肉, especially？</p>
<p>这个土豆烧牛肉香极了 = The dish of <strong>stew of beef with potatoes</strong> is extremely delicious.</p>
<p>土豆烧牛肉 is a <strong>noun</strong> (composite noun, or noun phrase) of a dish. It includes three parts, <strong>Complement + Verb + Object</strong>, where 烧 is the verb.</p>
<p>In Chinese grammar, it is very popular to form a <strong>composite word</strong> with the structure of <strong>Verb + Object</strong>. For example, 烧牛肉 (stew of beef)， 炸虾 (Fried shrimp).</p>
<p>This type of word formation is often with a complement that goes before the verb, <strong>Complement + Verb + Object</strong>. The complement can be a noun, an adjective, an adverb, or other words. For example,</p>
<p>土豆<strong>烧</strong>牛肉 = stew of beef with potatoes</p>
<p>红<strong>焖</strong>大虾 = Braised large shrimp in red oil.</p>
<p>砂锅<strong>炖</strong>豆腐 = Stewed Tofu in a pottery pot.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-12T05:52:43.027Z
2023-04-12T06:15:03.537Z
2023-04-12T06:15:03.537Z
PdotWang
<p>Here 土豆烧牛肉 is the name of a dish.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ldK2Cm.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ldK2Cm.png" alt="photo of 土豆烧牛肉" /></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>I would parse 土豆烧牛肉 as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li>烧牛肉, which is 牛肉 = &quot;beef&quot; which has been 烧 = &quot;stewed&quot;, and</li>
<li>土豆 = &quot;potato&quot;, which is functioning as an adjective describing 烧牛肉.</li>
</ol>
<p>(Realistically, the potatoes and beef are likely stewed together, but names of dishes are flexible.)</p>
<p>So you can think of 烧 as functioning as an adjective modifying 牛肉 = &quot;beef&quot;, or think of 烧牛肉 = &quot;stewed beef&quot; as a noun.</p>
<p>The given sentence translates to something like:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>这个土豆烧牛肉香极了。<br />
This Stewed Beef with Potatoes is extremely fragrant.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But it sounds clunky in English; maybe more natural would be &quot;This stew smells delicious.&quot;</p>
<p>This dish's name follows a similar pattern to many other dishes, such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>牛肉炒拉面 = &quot;Beef fried pulled noodles&quot; (here 炒 modifies 拉面, and 牛肉 describes what kind of 炒拉面 it is);</li>
<li>猪肉白菜煎饺 = &quot;Pork and cabbage fried dumplings&quot; (here 煎 modifies 饺);</li>
<li>青椒土豆丝盖饭 = &quot;green peppers and julienne potato on rice&quot; (here 盖 modifies 饭).</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>Also, 香极了 = &quot;extremely fragrant&quot;---it's not part of the name of the dish.  This uses the <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Adjectives_with_%22-ji_le%22" rel="nofollow noreferrer">极了 grammar pattern</a>.  Here, [adj.] + 极了 just means &quot;extremely [adj.]&quot;.</p>

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2023-04-12T05:59:42.757Z
The verb 是 (to be) is often omitted in Chinese sentences. 香 is an abjective, 极了 is an adverb to modify 香.
PdotWang
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-12T17:33:24.107Z
猪肉白菜煎饺 is another pattern comparing to 土豆烧牛肉. And you can't understand Chinese in that way with fix pattern . like I mentioned in my answer, 烧 is just moved to middle of 2 nouns 土豆 & 牛肉 to get a better rhythm.On the other hand 猪肉白菜煎饺 means  煎饺 filled with  猪肉白菜 inside
Jammy Lee
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-12T19:45:38.007Z
猪肉白菜煎饺 = 猪肉白菜馅的煎饺，猪肉白菜馅的 is an adjective. For short, the part 馅的 is omitted.
PdotWang
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-12T02:29:38.250Z
2023-04-12T02:29:38.250Z
Becky 李蓓
<p>It means 烧土豆牛肉. Chinese is a language in which the rhythm of words is sometimes more important than correcting grammar, similar to poetry. in this example , it works very well here moving 烧 to middle of 土豆 and 牛肉. It gains a better rhythm but not confusing , since everyone knows you won't 烧（roast) 牛肉 by 土豆, you will only cook them together.  I have listed some examples below that follow this pattern. Additionally, I suggest searching for these dish names on YouTube to see how they are cooked. This will help you better understand them.</p>
<ul>
<li>猪肉炖粉条</li>
<li>豆腐焖鱼</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-12T17:08:34.703Z
2023-04-12T17:41:54.097Z
2023-04-12T17:41:54.097Z
Jammy Lee
<blockquote>
<p>这个土豆烧牛肉香极了。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I've translated this sentence as <em>This stew of potatos and beefs is extremely fragrant</em></p>
<p>Decomposing the original Chinese sentence, I got the following.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This potatoes <em>stew(s)</em> beefs fragrant extremely.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I've been confusing understanding how 烧 works in the original sentence. I mean that what grammatical structure is used with 烧 here.</p>
<p>What term(s) can be inserted so that I can fully understand the structure of the given original sentence?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-12T16:01:23.063Z
I think "beef and potato stew" or "potato beef stew" sounds more natural here. "土豆烧牛肉" is a single dish, the order is just slightly different from the English. You might even just translate the whole thing as "Goulash" depending on the context.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-12T16:43:11.130Z
The concern here is not the English translation. It is about how Chinese grammar works on a specific example.
PdotWang
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-12T16:48:47.380Z
And we need to understand why the Chinese do not say 烧土豆牛肉, 烧土豆和牛肉, or 土豆牛肉烧.
PdotWang
<grammar>
How 烧 works inside 这个土豆烧牛肉香极了。？
# How 烧 works inside 这个土豆烧牛肉香极了。？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-04-12)

> 这个土豆烧牛肉香极了。

I've translated this sentence as *This stew of potatos and beefs is extremely fragrant*

Decomposing the original Chinese sentence, I got the following.

> This potatoes *stew(s)* beefs fragrant extremely.

I've been confusing understanding how 烧 works in the original sentence. I mean that what grammatical structure is used with 烧 here.

What term(s) can be inserted so that I can fully understand the structure of the given original sentence?

**Tags:** grammar
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I think "beef and potato stew" or "potato beef stew" sounds more natural here. "土豆烧牛肉" is a single dish, the order is just slightly different from the English. You might even just translate the whole thing as "Goulash" depending on the context.  
> **username_2**: The concern here is not the English translation. It is about how Chinese grammar works on a specific example.  
> **username_2**: And we need to understand why the Chinese do not say 烧土豆牛肉, 烧土豆和牛肉, or 土豆牛肉烧.  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-04-12. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

Your question: How to understand the structure of the sentence 这个土豆烧牛肉香极了? What is the function of 烧 in 土豆烧牛肉, especially？

这个土豆烧牛肉香极了 = The dish of **stew of beef with potatoes** is extremely delicious.

土豆烧牛肉 is a **noun** (composite noun, or noun phrase) of a dish. It includes three parts, **Complement + Verb + Object**, where 烧 is the verb.

In Chinese grammar, it is very popular to form a **composite word** with the structure of **Verb + Object**. For example, 烧牛肉 (stew of beef)， 炸虾 (Fried shrimp).

This type of word formation is often with a complement that goes before the verb, **Complement + Verb + Object**. The complement can be a noun, an adjective, an adverb, or other words. For example,

土豆**烧**牛肉 = stew of beef with potatoes

红**焖**大虾 = Braised large shrimp in red oil.

砂锅**炖**豆腐 = Stewed Tofu in a pottery pot.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2023-04-12. Score: 2

Here 土豆烧牛肉 is the name of a dish.

> [![photo of 土豆烧牛肉](https://i.sstatic.net/ldK2Cm.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/ldK2Cm.png)

I would parse 土豆烧牛肉 as follows:

1. 烧牛肉, which is 牛肉 = "beef" which has been 烧 = "stewed", and
2. 土豆 = "potato", which is functioning as an adjective describing 烧牛肉.

(Realistically, the potatoes and beef are likely stewed together, but names of dishes are flexible.)

So you can think of 烧 as functioning as an adjective modifying 牛肉 = "beef", or think of 烧牛肉 = "stewed beef" as a noun.

The given sentence translates to something like:

> 这个土豆烧牛肉香极了。  
> This Stewed Beef with Potatoes is extremely fragrant.

But it sounds clunky in English; maybe more natural would be "This stew smells delicious."

This dish's name follows a similar pattern to many other dishes, such as:

* 牛肉炒拉面 = "Beef fried pulled noodles" (here 炒 modifies 拉面, and 牛肉 describes what kind of 炒拉面 it is);
* 猪肉白菜煎饺 = "Pork and cabbage fried dumplings" (here 煎 modifies 饺);
* 青椒土豆丝盖饭 = "green peppers and julienne potato on rice" (here 盖 modifies 饭).

---

Also, 香极了 = "extremely fragrant"---it's not part of the name of the dish. This uses the [极了 grammar pattern](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Adjectives_with_%22-ji_le%22). Here, [adj.] + 极了 just means "extremely [adj.]".

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: The verb 是 (to be) is often omitted in Chinese sentences. 香 is an abjective, 极了 is an adverb to modify 香.  
> **username_4**: 猪肉白菜煎饺 is another pattern comparing to 土豆烧牛肉. And you can't understand Chinese in that way with fix pattern . like I mentioned in my answer, 烧 is just moved to middle of 2 nouns 土豆 & 牛肉 to get a better rhythm.On the other hand 猪肉白菜煎饺 means  煎饺 filled with  猪肉白菜 inside  
> **username_2**: 猪肉白菜煎饺 = 猪肉白菜馅的煎饺，猪肉白菜馅的 is an adjective. For short, the part 馅的 is omitted.  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2023-04-12. Score: 1

It means 烧土豆牛肉. Chinese is a language in which the rhythm of words is sometimes more important than correcting grammar, similar to poetry. in this example , it works very well here moving 烧 to middle of 土豆 and 牛肉. It gains a better rhythm but not confusing , since everyone knows you won't 烧（roast) 牛肉 by 土豆, you will only cook them together. I have listed some examples below that follow this pattern. Additionally, I suggest searching for these dish names on YouTube to see how they are cooked. This will help you better understand them.

* 猪肉炖粉条
* 豆腐焖鱼


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