Actor / Source
Who or what starts the event?
含义
The participant that acts, causes, initiates, controls, or is presented as the source of an event.
如何识别
Ask who is doing, causing, or starting the event.
示例
I|Peter|the dog|the machine|the wind
the teacher explains|the wind opens
The dog bit the postman.
Visual guide
ACTOR / SOURCE who starts the event? [the dog] -> bit -> postman [the wind] -> opens [the teacher] -> explains = doer/causer/source
Actor clues may differ order: [dog] bit postman case: [dog-NOM/ERG] agreement: dog -> verb pronoun form: I / me topic: [dog-TOP] voice: by [dog] role = event starter
语言视角
在母语中
The actor is commonly placed before the verb, but Mandarin can omit it when obvious and can also front a topic before the comment.
她打开了门。
tā dǎkāi le mén = she opened the door
在目标语言中
Actors are often nominative and reflected in verb agreement; explicit subjects can be omitted when the verb is enough.
كتب الطالب الدرس.
The student wrote the lesson.
Learners may rely only on word order and miss agreement or nominative marking.
Same block, different coding
Both languages use this block strongly, but they signal it differently. Focus on form changes, not only meaning.