动量补语

RuleVerb + frequency complement (ci, bian, tang...): the number of times the action occurs goes after the verb.

Curiosity

In "I watched this movie three times," where does "three times" go? After the verb like a duration?

Intuition

A frequency complement counts "how many times" and attaches after the verb. It is the twin of duration (how long); both sit after the verb and before the object.

Visualization

Reorder the English-like [I][watch][movie][three times] into Chinese [I][watch-guo][three times][movie]. The frequency moves before the object.

English-like (frequency at end)

我subject看verb电影object三次frequency complement

Chinese order (frequency before object)

我subject看过verb三次frequency complement电影object

Essence

Verb + (le/guo) + frequency + object. Measure words: ci (most general), bian (from start to finish), tang (a round trip), xia (a light action). If the object is a pronoun, it precedes the frequency (kan le ta yi yan, "glanced at him once"). It shares the position and logic of the duration complement.

Examples

这部电影我看过三次。

I have seen this movie three times.

请再说一遍。

Please say it once more.

我去过两趟北京。

I have made two trips to Beijing.

Mini-quiz

Which has the correct order for "I read that book twice"?