▎Existential Sentence with Posture Verbs (1)

 

Function Posture verbs refer to ‘sit, stand, lie, kneel, squat etc…’. They can be used in action sentences or in existential sentences. The latter refers to the existence of a noun in that physical posture.

1 路口已經站了很多人。

Lùkǒu yǐjīng zhànle hěn duō rén.

There were already a lot of people standing at the street intersection.

2 餐廳裡坐著很多外國學生。

Cāntīng lǐ zuòzhe hěn duō wàiguó xuéshēng.

There are many foreign students sitting in the restaurant.

3 咖啡店裡坐著很多來做功課的中學生。

Kāfēi diàn lǐ zuòzhe hěn duō lái zuò gōngkè de zhōngxuéshēng.

A lot of secondary school students who came to do their homework are sitting in the café.

 

Structures In existential sentences, posture verbs are typically used with aspect particles (esp.了 and 著), and the post-verbal subjects are typically indefinite (one, three, many, etc…).

Questions：

1 那個展覽館前面是不是站著很多學生？

Nà ge zhǎnlǎn guǎn qiánmiàn shìbúshì zhànzhe hěn duō xuéshēng?

Are there many students standing in front of the exposition hall?

2 餐廳裡是不是已經坐著很多客人？

Cāntīng lǐ shìbúshì yǐjīng zuòzhe hěn duō kèrén?

Are there already a lot of customers sitting in the restaurant?

3 今天的新郎，是不是門口站著的那個人？

Jīntiān de xīnláng, shì bú shì ménkǒu zhànzhe de nà ge rén?

Is this guy who is standing in front of door today’s groom ?

 

Usage Non-posture verbs can also occur in this construction, including 放fàng ‘place’, 走zǒu ‘walk’, 來lái ‘come’, 住zhù ‘live’. In addition, 掛guà ‘hang’, 躺tǎng ‘lie (down)’, 貼tiē ‘stick’, can also appear in this construction with the co-occurrence of 著, e.g.,

1 牆上掛著不少畫。

Qiáng shàng guàzhe bù shǎo huà.

There are quite a few paintings on the wall.

2 床上躺著一個人，我不認識。

Chuáng shàng tǎngzhe yí ge rén, wǒ bú rènshì.

In the bed lies a man, whom I don’t know.