<p>我下个星期要考中文
because in this sentence, 考 is a verb, 中文 is a noun.
do something after 要 (preposition)</p>

<p>In other word, 我下个星期有中文考试</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-01T14:55:30.843Z
2018-06-01T14:55:30.843Z
SUSU CHEN
<p>If you want to get 考 further back in your sentence, you might write:</p>

<p>我下周有汉语考试。Next week I have a Chinese exam.</p>

<p>汉语 Chinese language<br>
考试 exam</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-01T10:16:10.763Z
2018-06-01T10:16:10.763Z
Pedroski
<p>考 is the verb. </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我 / 下个星期 / 要 / 考 / 中文<br>
  I / next week / will / test / Chinese</p>
</blockquote>

<p>If it helps, you could regard 考中文 here as a set construction meaning "to have a Chinese test". Same for 考数学 etc.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-01T09:27:55.740Z
2018-06-01T09:27:55.740Z
Angus Macrae
<p>In my Chinese textbook, for a dialogue, one of the lines says "我下个星期要考中文". Why is 中文 after 考, shouldn't the sentence be "我下个星期要中文的考"?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-01T08:55:54.793Z
要+verb考+object中文, 考is not noun
sfy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-01T09:56:12.250Z
`考中文考试` `to have a Chinese test` would also be acceptable phrasing. Perhaps it is the omission of 考试 (test) that is throwing you off.
Mou某
<grammar><sentence-structure>
Why does 考 precede 中文 in 我下个星期要考中文?
# Why does 考 precede 中文 in 我下个星期要考中文?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-06-01)

In my Chinese textbook, for a dialogue, one of the lines says "我下个星期要考中文". Why is 中文 after 考, shouldn't the sentence be "我下个星期要中文的考"?

**Tags:** grammar, sentence-structure

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 要+verb考+object中文, 考is not noun  
> **username_2**: `考中文考试` `to have a Chinese test` would also be acceptable phrasing. Perhaps it is the omission of 考试 (test) that is throwing you off.  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2018-06-01. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

考 is the verb.

> 我 / 下个星期 / 要 / 考 / 中文  
> I / next week / will / test / Chinese

If it helps, you could regard 考中文 here as a set construction meaning "to have a Chinese test". Same for 考数学 etc.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2018-06-01. Score: 1

我下个星期要考中文
because in this sentence, 考 is a verb, 中文 is a noun.
do something after 要 (preposition)

In other word, 我下个星期有中文考试


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### Answer by username_4 on 2018-06-01. Score: 1

If you want to get 考 further back in your sentence, you might write:

我下周有汉语考试。Next week I have a Chinese exam.

汉语 Chinese language  
考试 exam


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