<p>在客厅里坐着一位老人.</p>

<p>The 在 is redundant because of the 里, as 客厅里 already says "In the living room..." and adding the 在 would be saying "in the living room" twice.</p>

<p>So, 在客厅里坐着一位老人 would be saying -- "At the living room in which sits an old man"</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-01T14:55:38.100Z
在客厅坐着一位老人 is uncomfortable to me. Somehow strange...
tsh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-01T15:29:43.487Z
How about 在树上坐着一只老猴子？
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-01T15:39:32.370Z
上 here sound the replacement of 里 in original example.
tsh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-01T16:27:36.360Z
Yes, you are right. I'll edict my answer accordingly.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-01T10:37:22.450Z
2020-03-01T16:27:54.633Z
2020-03-01T16:27:54.633Z
Wayne Cheah
<p>In my textbook there's an exercise in which I must decide if a sentence is correct. There's this: 在客厅里坐着一位老人. In the answers they say it's incorrect because "zai4" shouldn't be there. Is it really a mistake? I always thought "zai4" was optional in sentences like (zai4) + somewhere + li3/ shang4/ xia4/ zuo3 bian/ you4 bian/ qian2/ hou4.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-01T12:55:57.377Z
在客厅里坐着一位老人 is fine in day-to-day usage.
dan
<grammar>
Is zai4 + ... + li3 really a mistake?
# Is zai4 + ... + li3 really a mistake?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-03-01)

In my textbook there's an exercise in which I must decide if a sentence is correct. There's this: 在客厅里坐着一位老人. In the answers they say it's incorrect because "zai4" shouldn't be there. Is it really a mistake? I always thought "zai4" was optional in sentences like (zai4) + somewhere + li3/ shang4/ xia4/ zuo3 bian/ you4 bian/ qian2/ hou4.

**Tags:** grammar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 在客厅里坐着一位老人 is fine in day-to-day usage.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-03-01. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

在客厅里坐着一位老人.

The 在 is redundant because of the 里, as 客厅里 already says "In the living room..." and adding the 在 would be saying "in the living room" twice.

So, 在客厅里坐着一位老人 would be saying -- "At the living room in which sits an old man"

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: 在客厅坐着一位老人 is uncomfortable to me. Somehow strange...  
> **username_2**: How about 在树上坐着一只老猴子？  
> **username_3**: 上 here sound the replacement of 里 in original example.  
> **username_2**: Yes, you are right. I'll edict my answer accordingly.  

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