# be involved in a traffic accident



## viajero_canjeado

Hi again!

請問， 下面的句子該怎麼翻成英文才對?

The truck was involved in a traffic accident. = 這部卡車牽連於一場事故。 這個字眼有多奇怪呢? 先謝謝你們的指教!~


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## Lamb67

這部卡車牽連於一場事故 it does not sound authentic Chinese while the Eng.one sounds ok.


司机某某出车祸了。it is the common way.


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## samanthalee

The truck was involved in an unspecific traffic accident, right?
Depending on what you want to emphasize, it can be either
這部卡車發生過車禍
or
這部卡車曾經發生過車禍


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## viajero_canjeado

Thanks Lamb, but the 司機某某 part seems to deviate pretty far from the original. Sam, that's nice and straightforward; so I guess 牽連 can't have the same meaning as "be involved in" from the original, 對吧? 牽連比較應用在做壞事的情形之下齁?


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## Ghabi

viajero_canjeado said:


> 牽連比較應用在做壞事的情形之下?


I think the subject of 牽連 is either a person or an event. For example:

-這件事情牽連甚廣 "This matter has huge repurcussions"
-我不想把你牽連在內 "I don't wanna drag you into it"


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## BODYholic

viajero_canjeado said:


> The truck was involved in a traffic accident. = 這部卡車牽連於一場事故。 這個字眼有多奇怪呢? 先謝謝你們的指教!~



牵连 is to implicate. To involve is 牵涉.


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## GamblingCamel

Ghabi said:


> I think the subject of 牽連 is either a person or an event.





BODYholic said:


> 牵连 is to implicate. To involve is 牵涉.



It's similar in English.
A person is implicated in an accident; a truck is involved.


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## viajero_canjeado

BODYholic said:


> 牵连 is to implicate. To involve is 牵涉.



Just to be sure, this shouldn't be interpreted as suggesting that saying "這部卡車牽涉一場車禍" would be correct, should it?

As for "implicate" in the sense of entangling someone in the events of a crime (and thus incurring some degree of responsibility), the word "involve" is often used in the same context. Of course, the original post doesn't have this meaning.


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## BODYholic

viajero_canjeado said:


> Just to be sure, this shouldn't be interpreted as suggesting that saying "這部卡車牽涉一場車禍" would be correct, should it?



車禍牽涉到这部卡車.


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## Ghabi

BODYholic said:


> 車禍牽涉到这部卡車.


But that'd beome "this truck was involved in the accident".


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## BODYholic

Ghabi said:


> But that'd beome "this truck was involved in the accident".


某車禍牽涉到这部卡車.


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## xiaolijie

BODYholic said:


> 某車禍牽涉到这部卡車.


I'm not the right one to judge but wonder if we can actually say this. Literally, it says an accident _involved_ a truck in it but logically an accident could not do a thing, because it's a passive product of something else.


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## Lamb67

Back to my original stand i.e. I think the OP's Chinese is a translation from English, thus it only exists in translation section, sorry to be excluded from the mainstream of Chinese. Suppose involve being used in English the chance is ten,actually all over the paper everyday,
 then its equivalent 牵连、关联，卷入等等 is only less than five in Chinese,confined to particular cases such as detective meeting for example.


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## Ghabi

I'm basically with Samantha, although I'd say 這部車出過事故. I don't know whether 出 is in active or passive voice (personally I don't think the active/passive distinction in English applies to Chinese). Also, I'd like to add a context for an easier discussion:

-這部車才賣一千塊?為什麼這麼便宜?
-這部車出過事故,所以特便宜。


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## samanthalee

viajero_canjeado said:


> Just to be sure, this shouldn't be interpreted as suggesting that saying "這部卡車牽涉一場車禍" would be correct, should it?



I am puzzled to find that "這部卡車牽涉一場車禍" sounds strange to me, even though its meaning and grammar are right. Then I noticed that "The truck was involved in an accident" is in the passive voice, and we can't turn it into the active voice.

If we use "truck", "accident" and "involve" to construct a sentence in the active voice, we'll end up with "The accident involves this truck", which is exactly what BODYholic had suggested (ie. 車禍牽涉到这部卡車)
Which brings me to xiaolijie's observation:


xiaolijie said:


> I'm not the right one to judge but wonder if we can actually say this. Literally, it says an accident _involved_ a truck in it but logically an accident could not do a thing, because it's a passive product of something else.


I felt "The accident involves..." sounds alright, and I start to worry that my bilingualism is interfering with my judgment.

Going back to "The truck was involved in an accident", I tried using "車禍", "牽涉" and "这部卡車" in passive voice: 这部卡車被牽涉到一場車禍中. Does this sound natural? (I am still worried that my bilingualism is interfering with my judgment of what sounds natural.)


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## Lamb67

Years ago, my teacher used an article translated from Chinese into English to make a point that although its English translation is decent, the over-use of the word of involve would cost readers' interest.

My point is that we here have an unbalanced picture between an English word and its Chinese translation. In order to do the job well, we probably need more flexibility.

To follow your dictionary, we would end up using a rather special vocabulary in Chinese to decribe a mundane thing in English.


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## BODYholic

samanthalee said:


> I am puzzled to find that "這部卡車牽涉一場車禍" sounds strange to me, even though its meaning and grammar are right. Then I noticed that "The truck was involved in an accident" is in the passive voice, and we can't turn it into the active voice.


The sentence was first suggested by viajero_canjeado. I'm sorry I didn't make it clear (enough) when I replied. To say "這部卡車牽涉一場車禍" is as good as saying "The truck was involved an accident" (i.e. sans 'in')! 

In my opinion, a 助词 (时态助词?) is needed to make the sentence sounds natural. 
Examples,
这部卡車牽涉*进*一起交通事故。
前美国总统牽涉*进*一起桃色纠纷。

As to why I suggested 某車禍牽涉到这部卡車.     It is a matter of 主观与客观报导。For news reporting, you would find this way of writing formal and impartial. 



samanthalee said:


> Going back to "The truck was involved in an accident", I tried using "車禍", "牽涉" and "这部卡車" in passive voice: 这部卡車被牽涉到一場車禍中. Does this sound natural? (I am still worried that my bilingualism is interfering with my judgment of what sounds natural.)


"这部卡車*被*牽涉到一場車禍中." - Yes, it is natural but the meaning deviates slightly from the active voice. Here you are suggesting that the truck was involuntarily involved in the motorist accident. 它留有受到波及的余味。这种方式的报导是附有争议性的。


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## tomlearnenglish

i want to say sth different, i usually say"一辆卡车“ and " 一部轿车"~~一部卡车sounds strange, just for your reference.


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