Verb+成 and Verb+为 difference

[Kongming21]

Hey everyone,

I just thought about two verb compounds in Chinese, Verb+成 and Verb+为.

The actual example I thought about is:

把一本书改遍为一部电影 and 把一本书改编成一部电影

I think both versions are ok, I at least get many hits on google for both

So is this a common and always valid rule that Verb+成is like Verb+为(other example would be 翻译成and 翻译为), and in that case is 为

simply more 书面语?

[Kenny同志]

You're correct except for a typo (should have been 改编 in the first sentence ). 改编成=改编为, with the latter being more formal.

[renshanrenhai]

改编成=改编为, with the latter being more formal.

This is a funny nuance, don't you think so? It suggests passive voice is not so frequent as it in English, is it ?

[Kenny同志]

It's interesting to note that 改编成了（一部电视剧）sounds all right while 改编为了（一部电视剧）is much less frequently used and sounds slightly odd.

[PeterS]

把一本书改遍为一部电影 and

i think, 把一本书改编成一部电影 is better

[creamyhorror]

It's interesting to note that 改编成了（一部电视剧）sounds all right while 改编为了（一部电视剧）is much less frequently used and sounds sligtly odd.

Could be because 成 is more like an auxiliary verb while 为 is more like a grammatical particle, and 了 fits better after verbs.

改编成（一部电视剧） = to adapt [and] turn-into a movie

改编为（一部电视剧） = to adapt into a movie

Also, 成 is literally "become/turn into/make into" while 为 can mean "take as/treat as", "make into" or simply "is". The difference is shown by how 为 can't be replaced with 成 in 天下为公 ("all things are public"), and vice versa in 斐然成章 ("to come out as an elegant literary work"). It also means you have the established compound 视为 ("to see as") but not 视成 (which seems to have a classical meaning). But then you have both 看成 and 看为...hmm...

Then there's 成为 ("become/turn into")...

[Kenny同志]

Perhaps it's more about habit. Sometimes, it's hard to explain such subtleties of a language. :rolleyes:

Personally I think 改编为了一部电视剧 is acceptable though.

[renshanrenhai]

It's interesting to note that 改编成了（一部电视剧）sounds all right while 改编为了（一部电视剧）is much less frequently used and sounds odd.

At first glance， "为" suggests a passive voice here and then i consult the dictionary and confirm its passive-voice usage as "被" . No grammatical error in"改编为"though, why it sounds a bit odd to us. I take more interest in the internal cultural reasons beneath language. Based on my sense of language, passive-voice is not very usual in Han-Chinese while in English it occurs a bit more. So i guess if there exists an invisible rule to avoid passive voice or words implying a passive voice.

Another example:

"不过，其他可能的潜在的病源也正在探索中。"

The active voice in this sentence sounds illogical in English grammar but is fine in Chinese logic.

Pretty much interesting !

[anonymoose]

I don't see what 为 in these examples has got to do with the passive voice.

Yes, 为 can be used instead of 被 for the passive in constructions such as 为人民所爱戴, but how is that related to the sentences quoted by Kongming21?

[renshanrenhai]

but how is that related to the sentences quoted by Kongming21?

In the example sentences 把一本书改编为一部电影 and 把一本书改编成一部电影, I see no grammatical error in either of them.

But it will sound better to me if "为" is used in this way "这本书被改编为电影。"

Grammar learning is not included in Chinese education,so one tend to make judgement by his/her sense .

Did you find any grammatical instruction to explain the nuance of "为" and "成" in the example sentences?

[Avatar]

把一本书改编成为一部电影。

把一本书改编成一部电影。

把一本书改编为一部电影。

成 and 为 come from 成为，so these three are acceptable. But the first and second are better than the third.

[Kongming21]

First of all thanks for all the replies. I really dont think 为 has anything to dow ith the passive here.It's just a compound saying change "to" here. 为 only appears with a passive meaning in the form of 为A所Verb. This is quite formal as it stems from Classical Chinese, however we dont have this construction here.

@kenny2006 For me both 成了 and 为了 sound strange here. Arent 成 and 为 rather verb compounds and not verbs? I have only seen 成了 in the context of 成 being a proper verb in the sentence. However 为了 I have only ever seen in the sense of "for the sake of..."-->为。。。。而。。。。

[Kenny同志]

I am sorry Kongming. I am not good at grammar so I can't explain the subtleties.

[chevil]

I think that 成 is used for concrete things (physical changes) and 为 is used for more abstract things (changes of state). This is why 把一本书改编为一部电影 seems not quite grammatical, whereas 为 should be used in sentences like 他变为一个学生了. As far as I know, 他变成一个学生了 is a little bit weird. Can anybody second this?