Duomi Posted October 30, 2014 at 07:21 PM Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 at 07:21 PM I was recently corrected in my use of 沉沦。 What I thought should have been， "。。。被现代的波浪沉沦。" Was corrected to: "。。。在现代的波浪中沉沦。" Why can I not use 沉沦 with 被？ Thanks！ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wushucrab20 Posted October 31, 2014 at 02:19 AM Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 at 02:19 AM I think its because it is already a verb that describes precisely what is happening to something, it implies a change in state. For example 死 is also a verb, but you would never say 。。。被现代的波浪死 ， but if you change it to 。。在现代的波浪中死 it makes more sense. (I know you wouldn't likely ever use 死 in this context, but hopefully the example helps to clarify the grammar). Oh and one more thing. You can probably say 。。___被沉沦. It just doesn't work to say 被___ 沉沦。 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted October 31, 2014 at 02:24 AM Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 at 02:24 AM 沉沦 is an intransitive verb. It cannot take an object, and thus cannot be in the passive (since, by definition, a passive expresses something as being the object of an action). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duomi Posted November 1, 2014 at 04:51 AM Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2014 at 04:51 AM Thank you for the responses. Intransitive verbs - already a change of state - does not take an object. I have spent the last day thinking these ideas over, and I may be just grasping them now. Thanks for the explanation, really appreciate it! I think it is time for me to study a grammar book... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedroski Posted November 2, 2014 at 04:03 AM Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 at 04:03 AM Can 沉沦 take a meaning 'pulled into' as in 'pulled down into a den of vice'? In English 'sink' may be transitive or intransitive. The enemy sank the ship. The ship sank. The ship was sunk by the enemy. According to Newton's First Law, nothing 'sinks' for no reason. A force must be acting. But it seems Chinese does not see things that way. 船被敌人攻陷了。 船被敌人攻陷然后沉没了。 船被敌人沉没了 X 船被敌人沉没然后沉没了。X This kind of verb is called an unaccusative verb. Whereas 'sink' in English may be transitive or unaccusative, it seems it is only unaccusative in Chinese. I wonder why that is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted November 2, 2014 at 08:11 AM Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 at 08:11 AM Because Chinese is not English? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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