<p>Your translation has the right idea. It reads something like this:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Those who don't take care of their own physical well-being will be unable to maintain good health and vitality in their later years, leaving themselves with regret and causing pain to their friends and family.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The bold part can be made clearer, for example like one of the following:</p>

<ul>
<li>無法保持健康、有活力的生活狀態</li>
<li>無法保持健康而有活力的生活狀態</li>
</ul>

<hr>

<p>The reason why it's not clear is because it is a vernacular/spoken sentence written down literally (which you can tell because the sentence begins with「那些」; formal literature does not do this). It is discouraged to write like this unless someone is being quoted verbatim, because such sentences require more effort to interpret when read.</p>

<p>During transcription, the necessary conjunction (or enumeration comma) was simply left out. If you hear the original person saying this, however, they might have inserted a pause, or dipped the tone slightly, between 健康 and 有活力, making interpretation much clearer.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-29T13:26:29.923Z
Thanks for the great clarification. Is this kind of sentence common even on the written context (not from transcription)? Actually this sentence is from a reading textbook.
Blaszard
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-29T13:30:53.630Z
@Blaszard depends on the formality. Learners' textbooks will sound more like spoken language, then you start sounding less like this e.g. in magazines/newspaper opinion pieces > in fiction pieces where people are speaking words, or as a first person narrative > in newspapers where people are quoted directly > writing styles in academic textbooks, journal articles > Classical Chinese. Don't assume that textbook editors write perfectly either, it's very easy to make a mistake when transcribing spoken words literally by not reproducing the necessary pauses/conjunctions in writing.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-29T08:35:29.677Z
2018-04-29T08:41:13.393Z
2018-04-29T08:41:13.393Z
dROOOze
<p>Without a conjunction, the sentence should be written as follow:</p>

<p>"无法保持健康、有活力的生活状态" (combine "健康的" and "有活力的" by omitting the 的 in 健康的) </p>

<p>Using a conjunction make the two adjectives more connected</p>

<p>"无法保持健康(及)有活力的生活状态" (及 = and)</p>

<p>"无法保持健康(而且)有活力的生活状态" (而且 = also)</p>

<p>"无法保持健康(而)有活力的生活状态" (而 = 而且 = also)</p>

<p>"无法保持(既)健康(又)有活力的生活状态" ([既 X 又 Y] = [X and/ also Y])</p>

<p>"无法保持(又)健康(又)有活力的生活状态" ([又 X 又 Y] = [X and/ also Y])</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-29T13:28:27.593Z
Thanks for the answer but my question is about why the conjunction is omitted here, and if it is actually common.
Blaszard
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-29T08:29:40.620Z
2018-04-29T08:36:58.843Z
2018-04-29T08:36:58.843Z
Tang Ho
<p>有活力的生活状态 is not a noun. '生活状态' is 'lifestyle'</p>

<p>You could stick a 顿号 in there if you like. (I did)</p>

<p>那些不注意身体的人，<br>
Those people who don't take care of their bodies,<br>
到最后，<br>
in the end,<br>
无法保持健康（的生活状态）、（保持）有活力的生活状态，<br>
are unable to maintain a healthy and energetic lifestyle,<br>
白白留下人生的遗憾，<br>
leave behind a life of useless regrets,<br>
也让爱你的亲友感到痛苦。<br>
and cause their relatives and friends needless pain and suffering.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-29T11:14:36.420Z
2018-04-29T11:14:36.420Z
Pedroski
<p>In the following sentence:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>那些不注意身体的人，到时候，<strong>无法保持健康有活力的生活状态</strong>，白白留下人生的遗憾，也让爱你的亲友感到痛苦。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The sentence above should mean something like the following:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Those who don't care about their health cannot keep the healthy life, completely regret their life, and make their friends sad.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>But I don't understand the grammatical structure of the bold part. Especially because:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>保持 is a verb here and its object is 健康.</p></li>
<li><p>But then I don't understand why 有 follows after 健康. 有活力的生活状态 is also a noun, so why is there no conjunction between these two nouns?</p></li>
</ul>

<p>So my questions are:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Is my understanding on the grammatical structure here correct?</p></li>
<li><p>If it is, then why is the conjunction omitted here? And is it common to omit the conjunction in Chinese and don't even use a comma (逗号)?</p></li>
</ul>

<grammar><meaning-in-context><conjunction>
Why is there no conjunction between 健康 and 有活力的生活状态 in 无法保持健康有活力的生活状态?
# Why is there no conjunction between 健康 and 有活力的生活状态 in 无法保持健康有活力的生活状态?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-04-29)

In the following sentence:

> 那些不注意身体的人，到时候，**无法保持健康有活力的生活状态**，白白留下人生的遗憾，也让爱你的亲友感到痛苦。

The sentence above should mean something like the following:

> Those who don't care about their health cannot keep the healthy life, completely regret their life, and make their friends sad.

But I don't understand the grammatical structure of the bold part. Especially because:

* 保持 is a verb here and its object is 健康.
* But then I don't understand why 有 follows after 健康. 有活力的生活状态 is also a noun, so why is there no conjunction between these two nouns?

So my questions are:

* Is my understanding on the grammatical structure here correct?
* If it is, then why is the conjunction omitted here? And is it common to omit the conjunction in Chinese and don't even use a comma (逗号)?

**Tags:** grammar, meaning-in-context, conjunction


---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-04-29. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Your translation has the right idea. It reads something like this:

> Those who don't take care of their own physical well-being will be unable to maintain good health and vitality in their later years, leaving themselves with regret and causing pain to their friends and family.

The bold part can be made clearer, for example like one of the following:

* 無法保持健康、有活力的生活狀態
* 無法保持健康而有活力的生活狀態

---

The reason why it's not clear is because it is a vernacular/spoken sentence written down literally (which you can tell because the sentence begins with「那些」; formal literature does not do this). It is discouraged to write like this unless someone is being quoted verbatim, because such sentences require more effort to interpret when read.

During transcription, the necessary conjunction (or enumeration comma) was simply left out. If you hear the original person saying this, however, they might have inserted a pause, or dipped the tone slightly, between 健康 and 有活力, making interpretation much clearer.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks for the great clarification. Is this kind of sentence common even on the written context (not from transcription)? Actually this sentence is from a reading textbook.  
> **username_1**: @username_0 depends on the formality. Learners' textbooks will sound more like spoken language, then you start sounding less like this e.g. in magazines/newspaper opinion pieces > in fiction pieces where people are speaking words, or as a first person narrative > in newspapers where people are quoted directly > writing styles in academic textbooks, journal articles > Classical Chinese. Don't assume that textbook editors write perfectly either, it's very easy to make a mistake when transcribing spoken words literally by not reproducing the necessary pauses/conjunctions in writing.  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-04-29. Score: 1

Without a conjunction, the sentence should be written as follow:

"无法保持健康、有活力的生活状态" (combine "健康的" and "有活力的" by omitting the 的 in 健康的)

Using a conjunction make the two adjectives more connected

"无法保持健康(及)有活力的生活状态" (及 = and)

"无法保持健康(而且)有活力的生活状态" (而且 = also)

"无法保持健康(而)有活力的生活状态" (而 = 而且 = also)

"无法保持(既)健康(又)有活力的生活状态" ([既 X 又 Y] = [X and/ also Y])

"无法保持(又)健康(又)有活力的生活状态" ([又 X 又 Y] = [X and/ also Y])

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks for the answer but my question is about why the conjunction is omitted here, and if it is actually common.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-04-29. Score: 0

有活力的生活状态 is not a noun. '生活状态' is 'lifestyle'

You could stick a 顿号 in there if you like. (I did)

那些不注意身体的人，  
Those people who don't take care of their bodies,  
到最后，  
in the end,  
无法保持健康（的生活状态）、（保持）有活力的生活状态，  
are unable to maintain a healthy and energetic lifestyle,  
白白留下人生的遗憾，  
leave behind a life of useless regrets,  
也让爱你的亲友感到痛苦。  
and cause their relatives and friends needless pain and suffering.


---

