把 (bǎ): doing something to the object
The construction that moves the object before the verb — when Chinese wants to say what happened to a thing.
Why the object moves
Ordinary word order is subject–verb–object: 我关门 — I close the door. The 把 construction lifts the object up front — 我把门关上了 — and by doing so changes the question the sentence answers. Not "what did you do?" but "what happened to the door?". Use it when the object is specific, known, and something was done TO it.
我把门关上了。
请把手机给我。
The verb can't stand bare
A 把 sentence must say what became of the object, so the verb carries something after it — a result (关上, 喝完), a direction (拿出来), a recipient (给我), or at least 了. A bare 把门关 is unfinished: you took hold of the door and then… what?
别把牛奶喝完。
他把书放在桌子上了。
When not to use it
Verbs of perception and feeling — 看见, 喜欢, 知道 — don't dispose of their objects, so they resist 把. And an indefinite object ("a door, any door") stays after the verb: 我关了一扇门, not 把一扇门.
我看见他了。
Look up the word: 把 · All grammar guides
Patterns stick when you meet them in sentences you can read. The app drills each one at i+1, scheduled by FSRS.
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