<p>The former 之 is equivalent to 的, but more often used than 的 when followed by a single character that would otherwise be expressed in a two-character word. In this case, it is followed by 处, which means “place” 地方 and by extension “aspect” 特征. Thus, the first part of the sentence means word-by-word "People who cannot realize their dreams are the same in one aspect(characteristic)," or more in more appropriate English "Those who fail to realize their dreams have one thing in common,"</p>

<p>The latter 之 has a different meaning, as is common in classical Chinese (文言). It is the third person pronoun in the objective case, meaning that it should only be used in place of 他/她/它 when the thing in question is the object of the sentence, much like "him" instead of "he" in English. Therefore, 为之付出 means to "pay effort for it".</p>

<p><strong>More examples of 之 as a third person objective pronoun</strong></p>

<ul>
<li>授<strong>之</strong>以渔 (classical) "Teach <strong>them</strong> with fishing" = "Teach <strong>them</strong> the art of fishing."</li>
<li>将<strong>之</strong>磨碎 “grind <strong>it</strong> into chunks/powder/etc", equivalent to 把它磨碎， note that 将 is always used instead of 把 before 之.</li>
<li>有过则改<strong>之</strong> (proverb) "Have a fault, then change <strong>it</strong>" = "If you made a fault, mend <strong>it</strong>".</li>
<li>投我以桃，报<strong>之</strong>以李 (proverb) "Give me with peaches, return <strong>them</strong> with plums" = "They give me peaches, I return <strong>them</strong> the favor with plums."</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-14T22:45:42.523Z
That is very interesting. Chinese has oblique case. Do you have any other words only used in the oblique case?
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-15T01:05:06.990Z
Thanks for the great answer @busukxuan. Can yiu five some more examples of thhe latter case? I am not sure I fully understand. Also, Is this strictly written language or do people use this in spoken language? Thanks
rabbid
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-15T05:28:54.153Z
@Pedroski what is oblique case?
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-15T07:55:32.700Z
Another way of saying accusative. Some people don't like to say English has Nominative and Accusative case, so they say 'oblique case'. Old English had the same case structure as Modern German.
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-15T08:45:12.817Z
@Pedroski I don't have any other example, but what's more interesting, there is a genitive/possessive third person pronoun 其 also often used in classical Chinese. For example, 其心可诛 "their hearts ought to be destroyed" = "having such evil/bad thoughts, they ought to be punished/killed"; 不解其意 "do not resolve/understand its meaning". By the way, I don't suppose the oblique case is equivalent to the accusative case. Both English and Chinese oblique cases include the dative case as well.
busukxuan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-15T10:44:34.993Z
Funny, I was thinking of 其 today. 'him' is actually dative case 'he', which should be 'hine' when used in the accusative, but English has left the OE case system far behind it. This change happened about 600 years ago.
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-19T11:13:51.923Z
@busukxuan "Oblique case" usually refers to "non nominative case" in languages that "lost" great part of the case system, like English and some languages that came from Latin. By the way, it's very interesting to know that classical Chinese had a case system!
Enrico Brasil
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-19T11:26:37.997Z
@EnricoBrasil it's more like an exception. Although only a high school student , I haven't yet seen any case-based reflection besides this third person pronoun.
busukxuan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-14T16:33:13.363Z
2015-03-15T08:52:55.947Z
2015-03-15T08:52:55.947Z
busukxuan
<p>之 has many use cases, these two are used to denote a property and an
article like "it", or "that".</p>

<p>The literal translation for these 2 4-character phrase.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>共通之处 -- something in common / somewhere in common</p>

<ul>
<li>共通 "common"</li>
<li>之 (in which)</li>
<li>处 thing / places</li>
</ul></li>
<li><p>为之付出 devote for it</p>

<ul>
<li>为之 "for it"</li>
<li>付出 "devotion"</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>

<p>In the case of "共通之处", "之" seems to contribute no meaning and can
be removed, since "共通处" could be used to mean also the same
thing. This can happen sometimes when the speaker/writer is just
adding the character as a structure support, and/or maybe to
disambiguate.  Since 4-character idioms are very commonly used like
units of sentence making.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-14T20:11:26.533Z
2015-03-14T20:11:26.533Z
gugod
<p>不能实现梦想的人都有一个共通之处，那就是：想要一样东西，却怎么也不愿意为之付出</p>

<p>I do not understand the usage of 之 here. What does 之处 and 为之付出 mean? Thank you. </p>

<vocabulary>
How is 之 used in these sentences?
# How is 之 used in these sentences?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-03-14)

不能实现梦想的人都有一个共通之处，那就是：想要一样东西，却怎么也不愿意为之付出

I do not understand the usage of 之 here. What does 之处 and 为之付出 mean? Thank you.

**Tags:** vocabulary


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-03-14. Score: 8

The former 之 is equivalent to 的, but more often used than 的 when followed by a single character that would otherwise be expressed in a two-character word. In this case, it is followed by 处, which means “place” 地方 and by extension “aspect” 特征. Thus, the first part of the sentence means word-by-word "People who cannot realize their dreams are the same in one aspect(characteristic)," or more in more appropriate English "Those who fail to realize their dreams have one thing in common,"

The latter 之 has a different meaning, as is common in classical Chinese (文言). It is the third person pronoun in the objective case, meaning that it should only be used in place of 他/她/它 when the thing in question is the object of the sentence, much like "him" instead of "he" in English. Therefore, 为之付出 means to "pay effort for it".

**More examples of 之 as a third person objective pronoun**

* 授**之**以渔 (classical) "Teach **them** with fishing" = "Teach **them** the art of fishing."
* 将**之**磨碎 “grind **it** into chunks/powder/etc", equivalent to 把它磨碎， note that 将 is always used instead of 把 before 之.
* 有过则改**之** (proverb) "Have a fault, then change **it**" = "If you made a fault, mend **it**".
* 投我以桃，报**之**以李 (proverb) "Give me with peaches, return **them** with plums" = "They give me peaches, I return **them** the favor with plums."

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: That is very interesting. Chinese has oblique case. Do you have any other words only used in the oblique case?  
> **username_0**: Thanks for the great answer @username_1. Can yiu five some more examples of thhe latter case? I am not sure I fully understand. Also, Is this strictly written language or do people use this in spoken language? Thanks  
> **username_3**: @username_2 what is oblique case?  
> **username_2**: Another way of saying accusative. Some people don't like to say English has Nominative and Accusative case, so they say 'oblique case'. Old English had the same case structure as Modern German.  
> **username_1**: @username_2 I don't have any other example, but what's more interesting, there is a genitive/possessive third person pronoun 其 also often used in classical Chinese. For example, 其心可诛 "their hearts ought to be destroyed" = "having such evil/bad thoughts, they ought to be punished/killed"; 不解其意 "do not resolve/understand its meaning". By the way, I don't suppose the oblique case is equivalent to the accusative case. Both English and Chinese oblique cases include the dative case as well.  
> **username_2**: Funny, I was thinking of 其 today. 'him' is actually dative case 'he', which should be 'hine' when used in the accusative, but English has left the OE case system far behind it. This change happened about 600 years ago.  
> **username_4**: @username_1 "Oblique case" usually refers to "non nominative case" in languages that "lost" great part of the case system, like English and some languages that came from Latin. By the way, it's very interesting to know that classical Chinese had a case system!  
> **username_1**: @EnricoBrasil it's more like an exception. Although only a high school student , I haven't yet seen any case-based reflection besides this third person pronoun.  

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### Answer by username_5 on 2015-03-14. Score: 1

之 has many use cases, these two are used to denote a property and an
article like "it", or "that".

The literal translation for these 2 4-character phrase.

* 共通之处 -- something in common / somewhere in common

  + 共通 "common"
  + 之 (in which)
  + 处 thing / places
* 为之付出 devote for it

  + 为之 "for it"
  + 付出 "devotion"

In the case of "共通之处", "之" seems to contribute no meaning and can
be removed, since "共通处" could be used to mean also the same
thing. This can happen sometimes when the speaker/writer is just
adding the character as a structure support, and/or maybe to
disambiguate. Since 4-character idioms are very commonly used like
units of sentence making.


---

