把字句
RuleSubject + ba + object + verb + extra element: tells what was done to the object (disposal).
Curiosity
How do you stress what you did to the object, as in "I put the book on the desk"? Plain SVO sometimes falls short.
Intuition
ba "grabs" the object and pulls it before the verb: "take this thing, and here is what happened to it." That is why a result or direction follows the verb.
Visualization
From plain [I][ate][rice], pull the object rice out with ba: [I][ba][rice][ate].
Plain SVO
我subject吃了verb饭object
把 construction (object before verb)
我subject把把 (disposal)饭object吃了verb
Essence
In a ba sentence the verb cannot stand alone; it must carry a result element (le, a resultative or directional complement): ba fan chi le (OK) vs ba fan chi (no). The object is usually specific.
Examples
我把书放在桌上。
I put the book on the desk.
请把门关上。
Please close the door.
他把饭吃完了。
He finished eating the food.
Mini-quiz
Which is a correct ba sentence?