Verbs and Clauses as Subjects for “Swimming Is Good”
Use an action, a quality or a whole “someone does something” phrase as the subject of a sentence.
Pattern
verb phrase / adjective / (person + verb phrase) + predicate
An action or a whole clause can be the subject as it is, with no -ing, no “to” and no 的.
游泳对身体很好。
When to use Verbs and Clauses as Subjects for “Swimming Is Good”
In English you change the verb to say “Swimming is good” or “To learn Chinese is fun.” Chinese keeps the verb exactly as it is and just puts it first: 游泳对身体很好.
学习汉语很有意思。
Learning Chinese is interesting.
多运动对身体好。
Exercising more is good for your health.
学汉语的时候，认真比快更重要。
When you learn Chinese, being careful matters more than being fast.
你不去没关系，我一个人去。
It’s fine if you don’t go; I’ll go by myself.
Common traps
- Don’t add 的 to the action: 游泳对身体好, not 游泳的对身体好.
- Don’t change the verb into a noun first; 学习汉语 works as a subject just as it is.
- Check whether the comment describes the action or the person doing it.
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