Chinese Separable Verbs Free PDF and Flashcards

Ever feel like Chinese verbs are playing hide-and-seek with you? One moment you’re using 见面 (jiànmiàn) perfectly, then someone sticks 了 in the middle-见了面-and your brain goes blank. Welcome to the world of separable verbs, where the pieces love to dance apart and trip up even confident learners.

This list hands you around 100 of the most common separable verbs you’ll meet in everyday Chinese, from 吃饭 (chīfàn) to 帮忙 (bāngmáng). We’ve skipped the dusty textbook explanations and given you a clear meaning plus a natural example sentence for each one, so you can see exactly how it splits-or stays together-in a real sentence. No guesswork, just practical vocabulary that helps you sound less like a robot and more like yourself.

Ready to make Chinese grammar feel a little less mysterious and a lot more manageable? Scroll to the bottom of the article for the free printable Chinese separable verbs vocabulary list PDF and the free downloadable printable Chinese separable verbs flashcards.

Use this list as a starting point, then keep going in the Yak Yacker Chinese section for more words, phrases, and study-friendly reference pages.

Quick Quiz

Think you know your 见面 from your 帮了个忙? Take the quick quiz below and see how many separable verbs you can spot in the wild.

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Browse the Full List

Word	Pinyin	Meaning	Example Pinyin
V 了 O	completed action	我睡了觉。	I slept.
V 了一次 O	one time	我们见了一次面。	We met once.
V 数量 O	duration / frequency	我睡了八个小时觉。	I slept for eight hours.
V 过 O	experience	我跟他见过面。	I have met him before.
上学	shàng xué	to go to school	shàng le yī tiān xué
上当	shàng dàng	to be fooled, to be taken in	Wǒ shàng guo yī cì dàng.
上班	shàng bān	to go to work	Wǒ bàba měitiān zuò dìtiě shàngbān.
上网	shàng wǎng	to go online	shàng le sān ge xiǎo shí de wǎng
上课	shàngkè	to attend class	Wǒmen shàngwǔ shàng le liǎng jié kè.
下班	xià bān	to get off work	Tā xiàbān yǐhòu chángcháng qù jiànshēnfáng.
下课	xià kè	to finish class	xià le kè yǐ hòu
下雨	xià yǔ	to rain
丢脸	diūliǎn	to lose face, be disgraced	diū le liǎn
他吵架了一次。		他吵了一次架。
伤心	shāng xīn	to feel sad, heartbroken	shāng le xīn
住院	zhù yuàn	to be hospitalized	zhù le yī cì yuàn
做梦	zuòmèng	to dream
做饭	zuòfàn	to cook, prepare a meal	wǒ zuòle fàn
出事	chū shì	to have an accident	chū guo shì
出差	chū chāi	to go on a business trip	Jīnglǐ xiàzhōu yào chūchāi dào Běijīng.
分手	fēn shǒu	to break up (a relationship)	wǒ men fēn shǒu le
办事	bàn shì	to handle affairs	bàn le yí jiàn shì
加班	jiā bān	to work overtime
化妆	huà zhuāng	to put on makeup	tā huà le gè zhuāng
发火	fā huǒ	to lose one's temper	fā le yí cì huǒ

Free Chinese Separable Verbs PDF and Flashcards to Download

Use the purple button to get the Chinese separable verbs vocabulary list, and the teal button to grab the Chinese separable verbs flashcards. Both downloads are 100% free and require no signup.