"Separable verbs" get their name from their ability to "separate" into two parts (a verb part and an object part), with other words in between. In fact, you could also simply call separable verbs "verb-object phrases."
Structure
Verb + Object
Verb... [Other Stuff]... Object
跟 + Person + Verb + Object
Verb + 了 / 过 / 着 + Object
Verb + [Measure Word Phrase] + Object
Verb + Verb + Object
Keywords
none
Used for
Describing actions · Referring to past experiences · Referring to changes of situation · Referring to the past · Referring to the present
Summary, structure, classification, and adapted sentence examples draw from the AllSet Learning Chinese Grammar Wiki under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; changes were made. This noncommercial reference is based on an October 2023 snapshot.