<p>奥林匹克运动的故乡[n.] 流传着[v.] 这样的几句话[n.]：...</p>

<p>I would break this sentence in three parts as above.</p>

<p>“流传” is the verb here, it means "spread" or "circulating", here it means "these sentences/story goes that..."  or "there's a saying ..."</p>

<p>“着” here means the second meaning you listed. It shows the continuity of the verb.</p>

<p>My translation of this sentence is: "In the hometown of Olympic sports, people say:..."
It shows the meaning but not a word-to-word translation.</p>

<p>Here's the explanation in Modern Chinese Dictionary《现代汉语词典》:</p>

<p>着·zhe</p>

<p>1 （助）表示动作的持续：他打～红旗在前面走｜他们正谈～话呢。</p>

<hr>

<p>I'm a native Chinese, but it's my first time trying to explain modern Chinese to language learners. Let me know if I'm not clear enough. Hope it helps!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-28T16:05:43.940Z
The thing you cleared out is certainly the fact that it's the second pattern, not the first one. Nonetheless, I don't get why 着 is used. Would the sentence be the same correct and the same natural without 着?
musialmi
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-28T16:21:19.783Z
No, without "着" the sentence does not sound right. Honestly I cannot think of a sentence where "流传" is used as a transitive verb without "着".
Jasmine
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-28T16:22:11.957Z
However, I'm poor at Chinese grammar -- I've never learned that in school lol -- so I cannot explain why.
Jasmine
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-28T16:26:08.277Z
But you can express the same meaning by saying it as "在奥林匹克运动的故乡流传着这样的几句话" or "这样的几句话在奥林匹克运动的故乡流传下来/开来" or “在奥林匹克运动的故乡，人们流传着这样的几句话”. However in the original sentence, “奥林匹克运动的故乡” is the subject.
Jasmine
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-28T13:42:27.933Z
2020-03-28T13:42:27.933Z
Jasmine
<blockquote>
  <p>奥林匹克运动的故乡流传着这样的几句话：...</p>
</blockquote>

<p>This 着 is confusing to me. I suppose this sentence here follows one of these two patterns:</p>

<ul>
<li>place + verb + 着 + subject, for example 桌子上摆着一杯水.</li>
<li>verb + 着, for example 我听着音乐看报纸.</li>
</ul>

<p>The first one would make sense to me, after all "奥林匹克运动的故乡" is a place, but there's no 在, nor 里 and I don't know why. The second one would make sense too, but what's the point of using a gerund in this sentence...?</p>

<p>All in all, I don't understand what's the role of 着 here.</p>

<grammar><particles>
What grammar pattern with 着 does this sentence follow?
# What grammar pattern with 着 does this sentence follow?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-03-28)

> 奥林匹克运动的故乡流传着这样的几句话：...

This 着 is confusing to me. I suppose this sentence here follows one of these two patterns:

* place + verb + 着 + subject, for example 桌子上摆着一杯水.
* verb + 着, for example 我听着音乐看报纸.

The first one would make sense to me, after all "奥林匹克运动的故乡" is a place, but there's no 在, nor 里 and I don't know why. The second one would make sense too, but what's the point of using a gerund in this sentence...?

All in all, I don't understand what's the role of 着 here.

**Tags:** grammar, particles

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-03-28. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

奥林匹克运动的故乡[n.] 流传着[v.] 这样的几句话[n.]：...

I would break this sentence in three parts as above.

“流传” is the verb here, it means "spread" or "circulating", here it means "these sentences/story goes that..." or "there's a saying ..."

“着” here means the second meaning you listed. It shows the continuity of the verb.

My translation of this sentence is: "In the hometown of Olympic sports, people say:..."
It shows the meaning but not a word-to-word translation.

Here's the explanation in Modern Chinese Dictionary《现代汉语词典》:

着·zhe

1 （助）表示动作的持续：他打～红旗在前面走｜他们正谈～话呢。

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I'm a native Chinese, but it's my first time trying to explain modern Chinese to language learners. Let me know if I'm not clear enough. Hope it helps!

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: The thing you cleared out is certainly the fact that it's the second pattern, not the first one. Nonetheless, I don't get why 着 is used. Would the sentence be the same correct and the same natural without 着?  
> **username_1**: No, without "着" the sentence does not sound right. Honestly I cannot think of a sentence where "流传" is used as a transitive verb without "着".  
> **username_1**: However, I'm poor at Chinese grammar -- I've never learned that in school lol -- so I cannot explain why.  
> **username_1**: But you can express the same meaning by saying it as "在奥林匹克运动的故乡流传着这样的几句话" or "这样的几句话在奥林匹克运动的故乡流传下来/开来" or “在奥林匹克运动的故乡，人们流传着这样的几句话”. However in the original sentence, “奥林匹克运动的故乡” is the subject.  

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