<p>A verb works with an object. In this sentence, the first verb 吃 (have or eat) works with 饭 (meal), and the second, 看 (read) works with 书 (book), and "...的时候..." (while) links two phrases together.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-09-04T23:56:18.013Z
2012-09-05T00:02:22.203Z
2012-09-05T00:02:22.203Z
nfang
<p>“我吃饭的时候”是个状语从句，不知道你们能不能看懂,"when 我吃的的时候，我看了一本书"</p>

<p>“我吃饭的时候” has an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverbial_clause" rel="nofollow">adverbial clause</a> (I'm not sure if you can understand that). <strong>When</strong> 我吃的的时候，我看了一本书. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-09-11T13:45:47.567Z
2012-10-11T04:13:13.617Z
2012-10-11T04:13:13.617Z
SYC
<p>I read a book while having dinner.</p>

<p>You can see 吃 as an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverbial_clause" rel="nofollow">adverbial clause of time</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-09-12T16:55:41.693Z
So in this words, there is a verb and a adverbial clauses of time, not two verbs.
Chenhao
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2012-09-12T16:12:07.987Z
2012-10-11T03:34:53.173Z
2012-10-11T03:34:53.173Z
Chenhao
<p>Can't type in Chinese so I'll use pinyin.</p>

<p>Literally, it goes: <code>wo3 chi1 fan4</code> ("I eat/ am eating/ ate/ was eating etc.), <code>de5 shi2 hou5</code> (POS "time"), <code>kan4 le5 yi1 ben3 shu1</code> ("saw/ had seen/ read/ had read one  book").</p>

<p>Therefore, it roughly translates to "At the time when I was eating, I read a book."</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-03-12T21:17:49.433Z
you could maybe add the tonic accent to your pinyin. Something like `wo3 chi1 fan4`. Welcome to chinese stackexchange :-)
Stephane Rolland
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2013-03-12T03:15:10.010Z
2013-03-14T08:35:14.410Z
2013-03-14T08:35:14.410Z
Adiwangsa
<p>I'm not sure if you are familiar with 的时候 but this translates approximately to 'while'.</p>

<p>So the sentence reads:</p>

<p><em>While I was <strong>eating</strong> I <strong>read</strong> a book.</em></p>

<p>You can see the English use "I" twice, so it may make more sense to you if you read it like this: </p>

<p>我吃饭的时候(我)看了一本书</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-09-04T23:51:13.920Z
2012-09-07T19:07:20.617Z
2012-09-07T19:07:20.617Z
going
<p>The sentence 我吃饭的时候看了一本书。 apparently has two verbs (吃 and 看), but I can’t see how the two actions are correlated. Could anyone explain that?</p>

<grammar><sentence-structure>
What is the structure of 我吃饭的时候看了一本书?
# What is the structure of 我吃饭的时候看了一本书?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-09-04)

The sentence 我吃饭的时候看了一本书。 apparently has two verbs (吃 and 看), but I can’t see how the two actions are correlated. Could anyone explain that?

**Tags:** grammar, sentence-structure


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## 5 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2012-09-04. Score: 9 | Accepted answer

I'm not sure if you are familiar with 的时候 but this translates approximately to 'while'.

So the sentence reads:

*While I was **eating** I **read** a book.*

You can see the English use "I" twice, so it may make more sense to you if you read it like this:

我吃饭的时候(我)看了一本书


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### Answer by username_1 on 2012-09-04. Score: 4

A verb works with an object. In this sentence, the first verb 吃 (have or eat) works with 饭 (meal), and the second, 看 (read) works with 书 (book), and "...的时候..." (while) links two phrases together.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2012-09-11. Score: 2

“我吃饭的时候”是个状语从句，不知道你们能不能看懂,"when 我吃的的时候，我看了一本书"

“我吃饭的时候” has an [adverbial clause](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverbial_clause) (I'm not sure if you can understand that). **When** 我吃的的时候，我看了一本书.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2012-09-12. Score: 1

I read a book while having dinner.

You can see 吃 as an [adverbial clause of time](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverbial_clause).

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: So in this words, there is a verb and a adverbial clauses of time, not two verbs.  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2013-03-12. Score: 1

Can't type in Chinese so I'll use pinyin.

Literally, it goes: `wo3 chi1 fan4` ("I eat/ am eating/ ate/ was eating etc.), `de5 shi2 hou5` (POS "time"), `kan4 le5 yi1 ben3 shu1` ("saw/ had seen/ read/ had read one book").

Therefore, it roughly translates to "At the time when I was eating, I read a book."

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: you could maybe add the tonic accent to your pinyin. Something like `wo3 chi1 fan4`. Welcome to chinese stackexchange :-)  

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