连动句
RuleWhen one subject has two or more verb phrases, the verbs line up in the order the actions happen.
Curiosity
When two actions chain, as in "go to the store and buy things," which verb comes first?
Intuition
A serial-verb sentence lays the verbs along the arrow of time. The earlier action (qu) goes first, the later one (mai) after. Word order IS the order of events.
Visualization
Reorder the time-scrambled [I][buy things][go to store] into chronological [I][go][store][buy][things].
time order scrambled
我subject买verb 2东西object去verb 1商店object
chronological (go first, then buy)
我subject去verb 1商店object买verb 2东西object
Essence
Subject + verb phrase 1 + verb phrase 2 (+ ...), in chronological order. The verbs share one subject. Markers like le or guo usually attach to the last verb (or sentence end). The first verb often shows means or purpose (qu shangdian mai, "go to the store to buy").
Examples
我去商店买东西。
I go to the store to buy things.
他坐飞机去上海。
He goes to Shanghai by plane.
我们用筷子吃饭。
We eat with chopsticks.
Mini-quiz
Which has the correct order for "I go to the library to read"?