Level 5 · Lesson 1

我跟朋友一起去
I'm going with a friend

我跟朋友一起吃饭，我们一起聊天。

跟 puts the person you are with in front of the verb, and 跟…一起 is how Chinese says 'together with'.

听 · Listen

晚上做什么？
 安娜 —  李明，你晚上做什么？ 
Li Ming, what are you doing this evening?  
 李明 —  我跟朋友一起吃饭。 
I'm having dinner with a friend.  
 安娜 —  跟哪个朋友？ 
With which friend?  
 李明 —  跟我的邻居。他也学汉语。 
With my neighbour. He's learning Chinese too.  
 安娜 —  你们常常见面吗？ 
Do you two meet often?  
 李明 —  我每个星期都跟他见面，我们一起聊天。 
I meet him every week, and we chat together.  
 安娜 —  你们聊什么？ 
What do you talk about?  
 李明 —  我们讨论汉语，也讨论中国菜。你想跟我们一起去吗？ 
We discuss Chinese, and Chinese food too. Would you like to come with us?  

讲解 · Explanation

我跟朋友一起吃饭。

English puts 'with a friend' at the end of the sentence. Chinese puts it in front of the verb, right after the subject: I — with a friend — together — eat. This is the first of the prepositions you will meet in this level, and they all behave the same way: a preposition phrase in Chinese never follows the verb. 我吃饭跟朋友 is not an accent or a style, it is simply wrong.

我们一起聊天。

一起 means 'together', and it sits immediately before the verb. When you already know who is involved, 一起 can stand alone — 我们一起去 'let's go together'. When you need to name the person, 跟 and 一起 work as a pair around the verb: 跟 + person + 一起 + verb. Note the tone: 一 changes before the third-tone 起, so it is written yìqǐ.

我跟他见面。

Now 见面 finally gets its partner. 见面 already contains its own object (面 'face'), so it cannot take another one — 我见面他 is impossible. The person you are meeting arrives in front, carried by 跟. The same is true of 聊天: you chat 跟朋友聊天, not 聊天朋友.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
跟	with	goes before the verb: 跟朋友吃饭
一起	together	跟他一起去 go together with him
聊天	to chat	跟他聊天, not 聊天他
讨论	to discuss	this one does take an object: 讨论汉语
邻居	neighbour	一个邻居

练习 · Practice

我跟朋友一起吃饭。 Which sentence is correct Chinese for 'I'm eating with a friend'?

我 ______ 他见面。 Which one means 'I'm meeting him'?

我 ______ 邻居一起去商店。 Fill in the word for 'with'.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'I chat with my neighbour.'

跟、一起、聊天、讨论、邻居 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

今天你跟谁一起吃饭？你常常跟谁聊天？

Answer both questions aloud, in full sentences: 我跟妈妈一起吃饭 (wǒ gēn māma yìqǐ chī fàn), 我常常跟同学聊天 (wǒ chángcháng gēn tóngxué liáotiān). Then say three more, each with a different person — a friend, a colleague, your neighbour. Watch your own word order as you speak: the person comes before the verb every single time.