Level 5 · Lesson 14

把钱给他
Give him the money

把钱给他，把书放在桌子上，把中文翻译成英语。

The three commonest endings of a 把 sentence — 给, 在, 成 — and where the negator goes.

听 · Listen

搬桌子
 王老师 —  李明，请你把这本书给安娜。 
Li Ming, please give this book to Anna.  
 李明 —  好。安娜，你把书放在桌子上。 
Sure. Anna, put the book on the desk.  
 安娜 —  谢谢！我想把这本书翻译成英语。 
Thanks! I'd like to translate this book into English.  
 王老师 —  好极了。你把词典带来了吗？ 
Excellent. Did you bring your dictionary?  
 安娜 —  对不起，我没把词典带来。 
Sorry — I didn't bring it.  
 王老师 —  没关系。你们把这些桌子搬到那边，好吗？ 
Never mind. Could you two move these desks over there?  
 李明 —  好。我把桌子弄干净，再搬。 
OK. I'll get the desk clean first, then move it.  
 安娜 —  我搬了桌子就去银行，把钱换成人民币。 
Once I've moved the desks I'll go to the bank and change my money into renminbi.  

讲解 · Explanation

把钱给他。把书放在桌子上。把中文翻译成英语。

Three endings do most of the work in 把 sentences, and each answers a different question about where the thing finishes up. 给 plus a person: it lands in someone's hands. 在 plus a place: it stays somewhere. 成 plus another thing: it turns into something else — a language, a currency, a new shape. Fill in the ending and the sentence is complete; leave it off and 把钱 hangs in the air.

我没把词典带来。我想把桌子搬到那边。你可以把钱换成人民币。

Negators and modals all stand in front of 把, never between 把 and the verb: 我没把书带来, 我想把…, 你可以把… . 我把书没带来 is wrong. And note which negator: a 把 sentence reports something getting done to a thing, so when it did not get done you say 没, not 不.

我把桌子弄干净了。把这件事弄清楚。请你把钱换成人民币。

弄 is the all-purpose verb for 'do something to it' — you reach for it when the exact action does not matter, only the result does. It nearly always comes with that result attached: 弄干净, 弄清楚, 弄好. Keep 换 and 换成 apart, too: 换 on its own swaps one thing for another (我换了一个手机), while 换成 names what it turned into — 把钱换成人民币. And the bank you change it at is 银行, read yínháng, never yínxíng.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
翻译	to translate; a translator	把中文翻译成英语
换	to change, to exchange	把钱换成人民币
搬	to move something; to move house	把桌子搬到那边
弄	to do something to, to get into a state	always takes a result: 弄干净, 弄好
人民币	renminbi, Chinese currency	把钱换成人民币; 银行 in this lesson is read yínháng

练习 · Practice

我 ______ 词典带来。 I didn't bring my dictionary.

请你把中文 ______ 英语。 Please translate the Chinese into English.

他 ______ 桌子上。 He put the money on the desk.

请你把钱 ______ 他。 Fill in one character: please give him the money.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'I moved the desk over there.'

翻译、换、搬、弄、人民币 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

我把钱给他了。我把书放在桌子上了。我要把这本书翻译成英语。我没把词典带来。

Build one sentence for each of the three endings, out loud. Hand something to a person with 把…给…, park something in a place with 把…放在…, and turn something into something else with 把…换成… or 把…翻译成… . Then say one of them in the negative and watch where the 没 lands: 我没把词典带来 — in front of 把, never after it.