51.5 The Verb 放 fong3 (‘to put’)

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In Grammar and Vocabulary 49.1, we learned that the verb 放 fong3 means ‘to put’.

If we want to indicate we put a thing at a specific location, we can add a prepositional phrase with 喺 hai2 (‘in, on, at’) and the location after 放 fong3 and the object. 放 fong3 is a special verb. We put the prepositional phrase after the verb and the object, instead of before them.

Subject	放 fong3 ‘to put’	AP	Object (Thing)	喺 hai2 ‘in, on, at’	Location
我哋	放	咗	啲褸	喺	嗰邊	。
ngo5 dei6	fong3	zo2	di1 lau1	hai2	go2 bin6	.
we	put	AP	the coats	on	that side
We have put the coats on that side.

We can put 邊度 bin1 dou6 (‘where’) after 喺 hai2 to ask where someone puts a thing.

Subject	放 fong3 ‘to put’	AP	Object (Thing)	喺 hai2 ‘in, on, at’	Location	SP
你哋	放	咗	啲褸	喺	邊度	呀	？
nei5 dei6	fong3	zo2	di1 lau1	hai2	bin1 dou6	aa3	?
you	put	AP	the coats	at	where	SP
Where have you put the coats?

If we only want to indicate the thing is put at a specific location without mentioning who put it there explicitly, we can omit the subject and move the object to the beginning of the sentence, making it the topic of the sentence.

Topic	Comment
Object (Thing)	放 fong3 ‘to put’	AP	喺 hai2 ‘in, on, at’	Location
啲褸	放	咗	喺	嗰邊	。
di1 lau1	fong3	zo2	hai2	go2 bin6	.
the coats	put	AP	on	that side
For the coats, we have put them on that side.

Again, we can put 邊度 bin1 dou6 (‘where’) after 喺 hai2 to ask where a thing is put.

Topic	Comment
Thing	放 fong3 ‘to put’	AP	喺 hai2 ‘in, on, at’	Location	SP
啲褸	放	咗	喺	邊度	呀	？
di1 lau1	fong3	zo2	hai2	bin1 dou6	aa3	?
the coats	put	AP	at	where	SP
For the coats, where have you put them?