# Jesus died on a cross.



## yuechu

大家好！

I'm going to be describing the religious meaning of Easter to someone (as well as the non-religious meaning), and was wondering how to say "Jesus died on a cross." in Chinese. Would you say "耶稣在一个（？）十字架*上*（？）死了(or 的？）"?
Thanks!


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## henter

一般来说，中文媒体都会写耶稣被钉在十字架上.


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## yuechu

Oh, that explains it better. Thanks again, Henter!

re: 钉
This character is pronounced dìng in this context, right?


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## henter

是的


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## henter

yuechu said:


> Oh, that explains it better. Thanks again, Henter!
> 
> re: 钉
> This character is pronounced dìng in this context, right?


这一天中文叫作耶稣受难日.


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## yuechu

Oh! The Chinese name for Good Friday is a lot more descriptive than the English one


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## Tsau

I would say: 耶稣死在十字架上。
BTW, as far as I know, in mainland China you can have religional faith, however you are not allowed to do missionary work in public. And Bible is only allowed to be sold in churches.


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## gonecar

Tsau said:


> I would say: 耶稣死在十字架上。


So would I.


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## yuechu

Thanks for your suggestions, Tsau and Gonecar! 

When I first started learning Chinese, I was told that the normal syntax structure was "Subject + place (and time) + verb (+ predicate, etc.)" in Chinese.
Is there any reason why the place (在十字架上) comes after the verb and not before here? Are both structures possible (and do they sound natural)? I think there may be many exceptions to this rule, right?


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## hx1997

耶稣(是)在十字架上死的 is possible, but it sounds like "it was on a cross that Jesus died." I'm not privy to the secrets of the grammar rules governing this, but it seems certain verbs do require, or at least permit, the reversing of normal order, and 死 is one of them. Another one I can think of now is 出生, which can be placed before the location (出生在…).


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## yuechu

I think you're right! Thanks, hx1997!


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## gonecar

yuechu said:


> Thanks for your suggestions, Tsau and Gonecar!
> 
> When I first started learning Chinese, I was told that the normal syntax structure was "Subject + place (and time) + verb (+ predicate, etc.)" in Chinese.
> Is there any reason why the place (在十字架上) comes after the verb and not before here? Are both structures possible (and do they sound natural)? I think there may be many exceptions to this rule, right?


Hi, yuechu. I have to say that those questions are really challenging, at least, to me, and that they are really good questions. (I had never noted them until you asked here.)
I think the point we focus on should be how to use *one syllable verbs* ( like 死, *not* 死的，死了) in the sentence pattern [Subject + place (and time) + verb (predicate)], which was mentioned in your questions.
I assess:
耶稣*死*在十字架上。( quite natural)
耶稣在十字架上*死*。( understandable but really odd. However, the sentence ,耶稣在十字架上*死的(*I see 死的 as a two syllable word*), *is not what I am gonna talk about, although it sounds natural to me.)

死, if used alone as a predicate in a sentence, would be a momentary verb. And I find that whenever a one-syllable momentary verb is used in the sentence pattern  [Subject + place (and time) + verb (predicate)], it would come to an odd sentence, like, "耶稣在十字架上死。".
But if you use a one-syllable continuous verb, 睡 for example, either sentence pattern would work well.

考拉( koala)在树上*睡*。( natural)
考拉( koala)*睡*在树上。( natural)

鸟儿在天上*飞*。( natural)
鸟儿*飞*在天上。( natural)
Note: 飞，one-syllable continuous verb

他生在中国。( natural)
他在中国生。(odd)
Note: 生, namely 出生(be born), is a one-syllable momentary verb.

My conclusion( bold and arbitrary perhaps):

It would be safe (natural)to use a one-syllable momentary verb as a predicate in the pattern of "Subject  + verb (predicate)+ place (and time)".

And

It would be safe (natural)to use a one-syllable continuous verb as a predicate in the pattern of "Subject + place (and time) + verb (predicate)".


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## yuechu

That is incredibly helpful, Gonecar! (and something that I'll have to pay more attention to in the future! "momentary" vs. "continuous" verbs)

非常感谢！Thanks so much!


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## Tsau

Usually, you put the place or time before the verb. And most time this pattern works well.
However, in Middle Chinese (Wenyan, 文言文, or rather 中古汉语), the adverbial is more likely to appear after the verb. See this example:
生于忧患，死于安乐。（《孟子》）
lit. People survive in concerns and disasters, and die in ease and pleasure.
You may notice the preposition 于 (in, because of, by) is placed after the verb, and this usage remains in Modern Chinese.


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