<ol>
<li>In Chinese, 轉 (to rotate) is intransitive, whereas 圍住 (to surround) is transitive. Sentences b. and d. are in principle ungrammatical:</li>
</ol>
<blockquote>
<p>a. 地球在轉。</p>
<p>b. *地球轉太陽。</p>
<p>c. 我們圍住他。</p>
<p>d. *我們圍住。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Your hypothetical sentence therefore is doubly ungrammatical, because there is an object following an intransitive verb, and no object following a transitive verb.</p>
<p>Of course by 轉 we are referring to a spontaneous rotation by the object in question, not a rotation caused by an external force, because in that case it may also be transitive too:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>e. 不要在上課時轉筆。Do not play with (lit. turn) your pen when having lessons.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There is not an external force that moves or rotates the Earth (at least in the linguistic sense); therefore 轉 here is intransitive.</p>
<ol start="2">
<li>Try think of 圍住太陽 as a phrase <em>adverbial</em> on 轉; i.e. literally, the Earth is rotating as it surrounds the Sun.</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-27T07:06:14.550Z
2021-02-27T07:06:14.550Z
L Parker
<p>Just a nit point, Chinese wouldn't say &quot;地球圍住太陽轉&quot;, instead they would say &quot;地球圍着太陽轉&quot;. &quot;着&quot; after a verb (圍 in this case) usually indicates a continuous state, and &quot;圍着太陽&quot; (around the sun) becomes an adverb describing &quot;轉&quot;.</p>
<p>And generally in Chinese adverbs and adjectives are placed before a noun or a verb. A very obvious exception is the adverbs that can be prefixed with a 得, such as &quot;他跑得很快&quot;.</p>

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2021-03-02T02:09:35.187Z
thanks for your answer. 住 is a cantonese particle (with same meaning as a standard mandarin 着)
cgo
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2021-02-28T22:09:12.103Z
2021-02-28T22:09:12.103Z
CodeBrew
<blockquote>
<p>地球圍住太陽轉。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I understand this to be &quot;The Earth revolves around the Sun.&quot;</p>
<p>My question is: it feels to me the structure/order of the words is a bit strange. I could have said: 地球轉太陽圍住. Can someone explain why this is incorrect?</p>

<sentence-structure><word-order>
A question about the structure in this sentence
# A question about the structure in this sentence

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-02-27)

> 地球圍住太陽轉。

I understand this to be "The Earth revolves around the Sun."

My question is: it feels to me the structure/order of the words is a bit strange. I could have said: 地球轉太陽圍住. Can someone explain why this is incorrect?

**Tags:** sentence-structure, word-order


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-02-27. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

1. In Chinese, 轉 (to rotate) is intransitive, whereas 圍住 (to surround) is transitive. Sentences b. and d. are in principle ungrammatical:

> a. 地球在轉。
>
> b. \*地球轉太陽。
>
> c. 我們圍住他。
>
> d. \*我們圍住。

Your hypothetical sentence therefore is doubly ungrammatical, because there is an object following an intransitive verb, and no object following a transitive verb.

Of course by 轉 we are referring to a spontaneous rotation by the object in question, not a rotation caused by an external force, because in that case it may also be transitive too:

> e. 不要在上課時轉筆。Do not play with (lit. turn) your pen when having lessons.

There is not an external force that moves or rotates the Earth (at least in the linguistic sense); therefore 轉 here is intransitive.

2. Try think of 圍住太陽 as a phrase *adverbial* on 轉; i.e. literally, the Earth is rotating as it surrounds the Sun.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2021-02-28. Score: 1

Just a nit point, Chinese wouldn't say "地球圍住太陽轉", instead they would say "地球圍着太陽轉". "着" after a verb (圍 in this case) usually indicates a continuous state, and "圍着太陽" (around the sun) becomes an adverb describing "轉".

And generally in Chinese adverbs and adjectives are placed before a noun or a verb. A very obvious exception is the adverbs that can be prefixed with a 得, such as "他跑得很快".

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: thanks for your answer. 住 is a cantonese particle (with same meaning as a standard mandarin 着)  

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