According to the criterion of whether the executor of the action is animate or inanimate, English and Chinese verbs can be divided into active verbs and non-active verbs. The former is used after a noun that denotes life, and the latter is used after a noun that denotes inanimate. Sentences containing smart verbs are called animate main sentences, and sentences containing non-active verbs are called inanimate main sentences. The difference between English and Chinese in terms of verbs with and without spirit is that there is no clear difference between verbs with and without spirit in English, that is, a verb can often be used as both a verb with and without a verb, while in Chinese there is a clear difference between these two types of verbs, that is, a verb used as a verb with a spirit cannot be used as a verb without a spirit at the same time.
For example:
（1） One reliable source said that major tax changes were being considered by the Treasury. 据可靠消息，财政部正在考虑对税收办法作重大改革。
（2） John said that he would come this evening.约翰说他今晚来。
In the above two examples, the said is paired with one reliable source, which means inanimate, and John, which means animate, respectively. The former sentence is an inanimate main statement, and the latter is a living main sentence. The verb say is used as a non-active verb in the former example and as a verb with action in the latter example. In Chinese, the verb corresponding to say is "to say", which can only be used as a verb with a spirit. If it is changed to a non-spiritual verb, it is very inconsistent with the expression habits of Chinese. When translating from English to Chinese, it is necessary to understand the characteristics of the inanimate main sentence in English, and secondly, the structure and collocation of the original sentence must be adjusted accordingly.
Some verbs can be both active and non-spiritual, and should be translated flexibly. For example, see:
It cannot be uniformly translated as: kill, and it should be flexibly translated according to the transformation of its active verb and non-active verb.
He tried to kill himself with sleeping pills.
He tried to commit suicide by taking sleeping pills.
More than 1,000 people have been killed by the armed forces...
More than 1,000 people were killed by the armed forces.
Tell Richard I'm going to kill him when I get hold of him.
Tell Richard that once I catch him, I'm going to kill him.
The president was killed on his way to the office.
The president was killed on his way to work.
My feet are killing me.
My feet hurt to death.
Cancer kills thousands of people every year.
Thousands of people die of cancer every year.
Six people were killed in the riot, including a policeman.
Six people died in the riots, including a police officer.
The family was killed in an air raid.
The family was killed in an air strike.
Three of them were killed in the subsequent encounter with the police.
Three of them were later killed in clashes with the police.
Hundreds of people are killed or maimed in car accidents every week.
Every week, hundreds of people are killed or disabled in car accidents.
His wife was killed in a car accident.
His wife was killed in a car accident.
I'll make this marriage work if it kills me.
No matter how difficult it is, I will work hard to make this marriage happy.
According to official statistics the disease killed over 500 people.
According to official statistics, more than 500 people died from the disease.
Two children were run over and killed.
Two children were crushed to death.
It's a sad fact that many of those killed were children.
It is difficult to accept that many of the victims were children.
He produced a handwritten list of nine men he was supposed to kill
He pulled out a handwritten list of nine people he was supposed to kill.
Three people were killed and five injured in the crash.
Three people died and five were injured in the crash.
At least ten people were killed in the crash.
At least ten people were killed in the crash.
She was killed in a fall from a horse.
She fell off her horse and died.
The town raised a memorial to those killed in the war.
The town erects a monument to those who died in the war.
These are the cells that directly attack and kill micro-organisms.
These cells can directly attack and kill microorganisms.
You shouldn't always have to kill yourself to do well.
You shouldn't always wear yourself out in order to be perfect.
My mother will kill me when she finds out.
My mom would kill me if she found out.
Cancer kills thousands of people every year.
Thousands of people die of cancer every year.
Some drugs kill off useful bacteria in the user's body.
Certain medications kill the beneficial bacteria in the person taking them.
Three people were killed in the crash.
Three people were killed in the crash.
Tiredness while driving can kill.
Fatigue driving can kill people.
Do you agree that television kills conversation?
Television stifles conversations between people, do you agree with this statement?
He has effectively killed off any political opposition.
He has practically eliminated all opposing political opinions.
An increase in crime could kill the golden goose of tourism.
The rise in crime could kill the golden egg-laying goose of tourism.
His objective was to kill the space station project altogether...
His aim was to bring the space station project to a complete halt.
He was forced to take opium to kill the pain.
He was forced to take opium to relieve his pain.
The defeat last night killed the team's chances of qualifying.
Last night's defeat cost the team their chance to qualify.
I bought a spray to kill the weeds.
I bought a spray to remove weeds.
We killed time playing cards.
We play cards to kill time.
I'm just killing time until I can talk to the other witnesses.
I'm just passing the time before talking to other witnesses.
He was killing himself laughing.
He leaned back and laughed.
Assuming that his family had been killed during an air-mid, Hans settled down in a village fifty miles away where he had remained ever since.（新概念3，p90）
Hans guessed that his family had all been killed (killed) in an air raid, so he settled in a village fifty miles away, where he has been ever since.
A German taxi-driver, Franz Bussman , recently found a brother who was thought to have been killed twenty years before.（同上）
A German taxi driver named Franz Bussman recently found his brother, who was thought to have died (died in war) twenty years ago.
