Can someone please clarify the different sentence structures I can use “下去” in?

Question

I thought that 下去 was generally used in a V+下去 format. For example: 活下去

But I'm seeing it used before a verb in this sentence? "父亲接下去说:..." And in this sentence: "你这样下去会累垮的。”

Why am I so confused? Help. Please.

p.s. I just realized I may actually be confused by 接 in this sentence... Possibly could someone explain it to me? :/

for use after verbs see grammars on （compound） directional complements (e.g. 接下去）, for 下去 as independent verb see dictionaries, e.g. bkrs:I [go down; descend] 由高处到低处月亮下去了 — user6065, Sep 12 '16 at 1:38

水巷孑蠻 · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-12 01:26:20Z

have a look of the 國語辭典, "下去" has 4 meanings:

1　自上而下 - from top to bottom

2　用在動詞後﹒強調由上向下之意 - used after a verb, emphasise the action from top to bottom

3　用在動詞後﹒表示事情繼續進行 - used after a verb, showing the continuous state of the action

4　用在形容詞後﹒表示程度漸漸增加 - used after adjective, indicate the degree is increasing

in the example, "接下去说" is equal to "接著说", #3

then, "你這樣下去會累垮的" is also #3

Tang Ho · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-12 05:53:55Z

The other answer already explained the different usages of 「下去」, I would look into the logic behind it, and illustrate it with some examples.

「下去」is basically [下- down / downward (adverb) + 去 (directional particle)] structure that modify a verb before it.

Example:

In the three examples above, the role of 「下去」is simple - it indicates which direction the verb apply to (*downward)

The other use of "V+下去" indicate continuation of an action 「下去」= ( down the order/ continue next)

Example:

It functions like "繼續+V"

p.s. I just realized I may actually be confused by 接 in this sentence... Possibly could someone explain it to me? :/

接 here is a verb "to continue"

"父亲**接下去 *说:.."

"my father **continued, *and said:..."

"and" in English also indicates "down the order in time line". For example:" catch and release" = "catch first then release right after"

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