Can someone logically explain why 在坐 is wrong and 坐着 is fine?

Question

This question keeps me awake at nights.

Please, don't suggest that I've made a mistake and mistook 在坐 for 在座. I know what 在座 is. I dont' care about it.

I need to know a logical reason why 在坐 is never used in chinese. If it were used, I would have translated it as taking a seat and 坐着 as being in a sitted state.

You know, just like other pairs work:

• 在穿 - dressing vs 穿着 - wearing
• 在摆 - arranging smth vs 摆着 - being in an arranged state ,
• 在睡 - falling asleep vs 睡着- sleeping
• 在挂 - hanging smth vs 挂着- being in a state of hanging

P.S. I've found a great site which allows one to search chinese text corpus for 在坐 occurances: http://bcc.blcu.edu.cn/zh/search/1/%E5%9C%A8%E5%9D%90

Answer 1

[在 + v] = in the act of carrying out the action. e.g. 在穿衣服 (putting on clothes)

[v + 着] = the actions is in a continuous state. e.g. 穿着衣服 (wearing clothes/ the clothes is being worn currently)

More examples:

警察在打人 - the police is in the act of beating up someone

警察打着人 sounds strange because unlike 穿着衣服 (wearing clothes) which can be easily in a continuous state, (you can keep wearing the clothes while doing other activities.) 打着人(beating people) means the beating is in a continuous state. Generally, the verb in [v + 着] is a non-action verb, for example, 看，聽，想，吃，坐 ，站. While action verbs like 打，跑， 射 do not work with 着 easily

I need to know a logical reason why 在坐 is never used in chinese. If it were used, I would have translated it as taking a seat and 坐着 as being in a sitted state

在坐 sounds strange because 坐 is a static verb. 在 requires an active verb. 穿 can work with 在 and 着 because 穿 can be a static or active verb

Note: [V + 着 + V] is a different structure, meaning the two actions occur simultaneously, e.g. 警察笑着打人 (the police is beating up someone while laughing); 跑着射擊 (shooting while running)

Answer 2

Why 在坐 is wrong?

我在穿衣服 我穿著衣服

我在坐飛機 我坐著飛機

在坐 - 在一般使用上已經被擴大延伸，不再只是字面上「坐著」的意思而已，例如可用於表示在搭乘某種交通工具，而搭乘這些交通工具時，某種程度上就隱含坐著的意思。

如：

我在坐計程車 我在坐公車 我在坐捷運 我在坐船 我在坐火車

我坐著計程車 我坐著公車 我坐著捷運 我坐著船 我坐著火車

而單獨的在坐，就如同OP所說，通常就是指在座，例如：在坐的各位。

Answer 3

在+v：the action is in progress; v+着：the aftermath/effect of an action is still there. The key is the action. Some verbs are without action: 是、有、喜欢、见、到...；definitely can not use either one. Some verbs are very short actions, may last only 1 or few seconds: 站、坐、...；they can't use 1st kind, only the 2nd. Please be very strict about this: 1. some verbs can be both, 坐 in "sit" can't, but in "take (transportation)" can. 2. verbs like 来、去 are not action verb, they are state verbs denoting purpose without action. They need other action verbs to reach the purpose: 走、跑、...etc. This group can use 2nd one only. Only the true action verbs can use both, and they literally deserve both: 他坐着看电视。 他正看着电视。

Answer 4

Seems like there is some correlation with so-called intransitives and the lack of 在坐。

You can't "arrive someone".
*I am arriving you.
*我在到你。
我到了。
我快到了。

You can't "go something".
*I go / am going London.
*我在去伦敦。
I am going to London.
我在去伦敦的路上。

You can't "lie something".
*I lie the bed.
*我躺床。
I am lying on the bed.
我躺在床上。
我在床上躺着。

You can't "sit something".
The children sit the lawn.
*孩子们在坐草坪。
The children sit on the lawn.
孩子们坐在草坪上。
孩子们在草坪上坐着。

Chinese often uses '在 ... 上', '在 ... 里' 等等。Maybe, when no noun is expected, our brains expect a '上' or '里', so Chinese won't use ‘在坐’。

There is no absolute mapping between Chinese and English:

I can't 'vote you'. But in Chinese I can ‘投票’。

Every single person voted.
每个人都投了票。
I am voting.
我在投票。

But 我在坐飞机/地铁/公交。is acceptable Chinese as far as the people I know are concerned, so 在坐 is possible. (it may be 乘坐 however, who knows what is left out!)

Answer 5

is there any logical difference between 我坐著公車 and 我在坐公車

我在坐公車 and 我坐著公車 have pretty similar meanings.

To emphasize ON THE BUS/PLANE/....

Q: 你在哪？我在坐公車。(I am on the bus NOW)

Q: 你在幹嘛？ A:我在坐飛機。(I am on the air plane NOW) Q: 坐飛機去哪？(Where are you flying to?) A: 去美國。

To emphasize other actions rather than (or related to) THE BUS/PLANE/....

我坐著飛機，到世界各國旅行。 (travel around the world by air plane)

我坐著交通船，每天在家跟辦公室之間往來。

我坐著火車，到海邊散散心。

我在坐飛機 could be translated "sitting in the plane"

Literally, yes, it looks like "sitting on the plane". But that should be realized with "ON THE AIR PLANE" rather than SITTING on the plane.

If you wish to emphasize the action of sitting, you can say 我在飛機上坐著.

boarding a plane

We usually use 登機 or 上飛機. e.g. If you see "登機中" at boarding gate, it means passengers are allowed to board a plane. When you are already on the plane, you can say 我在飛機上 我在坐飛機 我上飛機了。