How to use prepositions with indirect objects in Mandarin Chinese?

In this post, we’ll focus on Mandarin prepositions, such as 跟 (transcribed gēn, meaning “with”), 对 (transcribed duì, meaning “to, toward”), 给 (transcribed gěi, meaning “for”), 对于 (transcribed duì yú, meaning “to”), 关于 (transcribed guānyú, meaning “about”) that are used with indirect objects or recipients. But what is a preposition?

A preposition is a word, usually preceding a noun or pronoun, that expresses a relation to another word or element in the sentence, as in “the man in the car,” “she arrived after dinner,” or “Did you do it for work?” In English, prepositions with the noun or pronoun usually come after the verb. For example, “I got a gift for you,” where “got” is the verb and “for you” is the preposition plus the pronoun. In Mandarin, however, prepositions and their nouns or pronouns usually come before the verb. Here are some examples:

There are many types of prepositions, based on the kind of relationship the preposition indicates. Curious about how they work? Let’s read on!

Like we said earlier, prepositions indicate the relation of a word to another element of the sentence. Consider the following example:

In this sentence, 对 (transcribed duì, meaning “toward”) is a preposition that makes a connection between 中文 (transcribed Zhōngwén, meaning “Chinese”) and 兴趣 (transcribed xìngqù, meaning “interest”), so that you know that the interest is toward / in Chinese. 对中文 (transcribed duì Zhōngwén, meaning “toward Chinese”), in this case, is a prepositional phrase. In a grammatical sense, the preposition 对 (transcribed duì, meaning “toward”) introduces an indirect object 中文 (transcribed Zhōngwén, meaning “Chinese”). Below are some prepositions in Mandarin that work similarly.

跟 (transcribed gēn, meaning “with”) can be simply thought of as the Mandarin equivalent of “with.” The only difference is that the 跟 (transcribed gēn, meaning “with”) phrase always goes before the verb, like this:

So, as you can see, instead of saying, “I talk with my mom often,” in Mandarin, you would actually say, “I with my mom talk often.” Easy, right? 跟 (transcribed gēn, meaning “with”) is also commonly used with 一起 (transcribed yīqǐ, meaning “together”) meaning “to do something with someone together.” For example:

Another way of using 跟 (transcribed gēn, meaning “with”) is for comparison, like the example below. Take a look at our other post where we discuss the 跟 (transcribed gēn) ... 一样 (transcribed yīyàng, meaning “as...as…”) structure.

对 (transcribed duì, meaning “to, toward”) suggests a one-way action, meaning “to or toward someone/something.” Here’s how you would use it:

给 (transcribed gěi) can be both a verb, meaning “to give,” or a preposition, meaning “to” or “for.” When it is used as a preposition, it introduces the recipient of the object.

In this example, 给 (transcribed gěi, meaning “for”) is followed by 你 (transcribed nǐ, meaning “you”), which is the recipient of the direct object 电话 (transcribed diànhuà, meaning “phone call”). Let’s take a look at two more examples:

To use 对于 (transcribed duìyú, meaning “with regard to”) in Mandarin Chinese, follow the formula below:

To use 关于 (transcribed guānyú, meaning “about”) in Mandarin Chinese, follow the formula below:

In this post, we saw some of the most common Mandarin prepositions for indirect objects. These indirect objects are usually the recipient of the direct object. It’s important to bear in mind that, unlike English, most prepositions with the indirect object in Mandarin go before the verb:

Many of the uses of these prepositions are idiomatic, so we simply have to memorize what prepositions go with what verbs. Now, let’s put your knowledge to work!