<p>You're likely familiar with the usual &quot;to give&quot;:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>请<strong>给</strong>我一杯水。  (Please give me a glass of water.)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In Chinese, you can also &quot;give&quot; verbs using 给, meaning to do something to or for someone else:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>我不想<strong>给</strong>他打电话。  (I don't want to call him.)<br />
你能<strong>给</strong>我帮个忙吗？  (Could you help me?)<br />
能<strong>给</strong>我提示吗？  (Could you give me a hint?)<br />
<strong>给</strong>我让开！  (Get out of my way!)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So for the given examples:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>你<strong>给</strong>我听好了。  (Listen carefully to me.)<br />
你<strong>给</strong>我站住。  (Don't move!)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The second one (你给我站住) is better not to be taken too literally (e.g. &quot;stand still for me&quot;); in my experience it's usually given as an instruction.</p>
<p>In English, we might say things like &quot;give me a hint&quot;, &quot;give me a tour&quot;, and &quot;get on the floor and give me 20 [push-ups]&quot;, but we tend to think of what is given as an abstract noun, rather than a verb.</p>
<p>The other common usages you might encounter are the <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Advanced_uses_of_%22ba%22#Using_.E6.8A.8A_with_.E7.BB.99" rel="nofollow noreferrer">把……给 grammar structure</a>, and the <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_passive_voice_with_%22gei%22" rel="nofollow noreferrer">passive 给</a>, along with words like <a href="https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=%E4%BE%9B%E7%BB%99" rel="nofollow noreferrer">供给</a> = &quot;supply&quot;, where it's pronounced jǐ.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-18T22:46:47.640Z
2023-07-18T23:00:06.693Z
2023-07-18T23:00:06.693Z
Becky 李蓓
<p>Apart from give, 给 can have these and more meanings:</p>
<p>让：给我看看<br />
为、替：给饥饿者所需要的食物<br />
被：机器给弄坏了<br />
朝、对、向：给这儿灌水</p>
<p>It seems, the smaller a word is, the harder it is to define. The English word &quot;go&quot; takes up 45 columns of small print in the Oxford English Dictionary! It seems, meaning has quantum states, and like quantum particles, only observation will &quot;collapse the meaning wave function&quot;, before that, all meanings, like all locations for particles, are possible!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-19T00:19:00.720Z
2023-07-19T00:19:00.720Z
Pedroski
<p>Someone already posted the <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%B5%A6#Chinese" rel="nofollow noreferrer">dictionary link</a> in a comment.</p>
<p>It is the same with this definition:</p>
<p>6- Used in the form of 給我 in imperative sentences for emphasis.</p>
<pre><code>你給我閉嘴！／你给我闭嘴！  ―  Nǐ gěi wǒ bìzuǐ!  ―  Shut the heck up!
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-18T17:36:05.607Z
Thank you for your help !
Tatiana
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-18T16:51:26.777Z
2023-07-18T16:51:26.777Z
王博龙
<p>I've seen sentences where 给 is not used in the sense of &quot;give&quot;. Please explain to me why 给 is used here?
The sentences:</p>
<ol>
<li>你给我听好了</li>
<li>你给我站住</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-18T16:27:56.043Z
Do the definitions here: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%B5%A6#Chinese help?
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-18T17:10:22.537Z
FYI. https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/51166/what-does-%e4%bd%a0%e7%bb%99%e6%88%91-mean
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-18T17:35:16.177Z
Thank you very much ! I got it)
Tatiana
<meaning>
What does 给 mean other than "to give"?
# What does 给 mean other than "to give"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-07-18)

I've seen sentences where 给 is not used in the sense of "give". Please explain to me why 给 is used here?
The sentences:

1. 你给我听好了
2. 你给我站住

**Tags:** meaning

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Do the definitions here: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%B5%A6#Chinese help?  
> **username_2**: FYI. https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/51166/what-does-%e4%bd%a0%e7%bb%99%e6%88%91-mean  
> **username_0**: Thank you very much ! I got it)  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2023-07-18. Score: 2

You're likely familiar with the usual "to give":

> 请**给**我一杯水。 (Please give me a glass of water.)

In Chinese, you can also "give" verbs using 给, meaning to do something to or for someone else:

> 我不想**给**他打电话。 (I don't want to call him.)  
> 你能**给**我帮个忙吗？ (Could you help me?)  
> 能**给**我提示吗？ (Could you give me a hint?)  
> **给**我让开！ (Get out of my way!)

So for the given examples:

> 你**给**我听好了。 (Listen carefully to me.)  
> 你**给**我站住。 (Don't move!)

The second one (你给我站住) is better not to be taken too literally (e.g. "stand still for me"); in my experience it's usually given as an instruction.

In English, we might say things like "give me a hint", "give me a tour", and "get on the floor and give me 20 [push-ups]", but we tend to think of what is given as an abstract noun, rather than a verb.

The other common usages you might encounter are the [把……给 grammar structure](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Advanced_uses_of_%22ba%22#Using_.E6.8A.8A_with_.E7.BB.99), and the [passive 给](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_passive_voice_with_%22gei%22), along with words like [供给](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=%E4%BE%9B%E7%BB%99) = "supply", where it's pronounced jǐ.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2023-07-19. Score: 1

Apart from give, 给 can have these and more meanings:

让：给我看看  
为、替：给饥饿者所需要的食物  
被：机器给弄坏了  
朝、对、向：给这儿灌水

It seems, the smaller a word is, the harder it is to define. The English word "go" takes up 45 columns of small print in the Oxford English Dictionary! It seems, meaning has quantum states, and like quantum particles, only observation will "collapse the meaning wave function", before that, all meanings, like all locations for particles, are possible!


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2023-07-18. Score: 1

Someone already posted the [dictionary link](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%B5%A6#Chinese) in a comment.

It is the same with this definition:

6- Used in the form of 給我 in imperative sentences for emphasis.

```
你給我閉嘴！／你给我闭嘴！  ―  Nǐ gěi wǒ bìzuǐ!  ―  Shut the heck up!

```

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you for your help !  

---

