1
subsist on sth
通常指依靠少量或不足的食物、金钱维持生存。
Many families subsist on less than $200 a month.
许多家庭每月依靠不到200美元维持生活。
生存；维持生活
先理解核心含义，再看它在真实句子里的用法。
生存；维持生活
to support oneself; to stay alive, especially with limited resources
Many families subsist on less than $200 a month.
许多家庭每月依靠不到200美元维持生活。
靠最低限度的资源生存
To survive on a minimum of resources.
具有本体论现实；存在。
To have ontological reality; to exist.
保持某种状态；继续存在
To retain a certain state; to continue.
subsist
Base
原形
subsists
3rd person
第三人称单数
subsisting
-ing
现在分词
subsisted
Past
过去式
subsisted
Past participle
过去分词
He subsists on a meager diet.
他靠微薄的饮食生存。
They subsisted on berries and roots.
他们靠浆果和树根生存。
She is subsisting on her savings.
她靠积蓄维持生活。
He has subsisted mainly on charity.
他主要靠慈善维持生计。
Many families in the village subsist on farming and fishing.
村里许多家庭靠务农和捕鱼维持生活。
During the war, people had to subsist on very little food.
战争期间，人们不得不靠很少的食物维持生存。
The plants can subsist in dry soil for months.
这些植物能在干旱的土壤中存活数月。
通常指依靠少量或不足的食物、金钱维持生存。
Many families subsist on less than $200 a month.
许多家庭每月依靠不到200美元维持生活。
多用于抽象事物，表示存在于某种状态或条件中。
The culture subsists in the traditions of the local community.
这种文化存在于当地社区的传统之中。
及物用法，较少见，表示提供生存所需。
They subsisted the refugees on basic rations.
他们用基本口粮供养难民。
Not this
They subsist rice and water.
Use this
They subsist on rice and water.
使用 'subsist' 表示'靠……生存'时，需要介词 'on'，因为该动词是不及物的，不可直接跟宾语。
Not this
The committee subsists of five members.
Use this
The committee consists of five members.
'subsist' 意为'生存'或'供养'，不表示'由……组成'；表示组成应用 'consist of'。
Focus on the distinctions below. Other candidates are kept compact until a reliable usage note is available.
靠……维持生存
The refugees subsist on rice and beans.
难民靠米饭和豆子维持生存。
靠（某种方式）谋生
Many families subsist by farming small plots of land.
许多家庭靠耕种小块土地为生。
勉强维持生活
They barely subsisted during the harsh winter.
他们在严冬中勉强维持生活。
没有……就无法生存
No one can subsist without food and water.
没有食物和水，任何人都无法生存。
仍然存在；继续存在
The custom still subsists in some villages.
这一风俗在一些村庄仍然存在。
Use subsist naturally, then get feedback on meaning, tone, grammar, and phrasing.
Revisit a common error or keep this word in your review list.
联想 sub（少）+sist（站住）：资源很少也能站住，即勉强维持生存。
语域：formal 常见场景：formal writing、academic contexts、literary texts subsist 比较正式，多用于书面语或正式场合，在学术或文学语境中比较常见；日常口语中通常多用 survive 或 live。
These words all end with the same stressed rhyme /-ˈsɪst/ and share the spelling chunk -sist: assist, consist, desist, insist, persist, resist. They rhyme with subsist. Watch out for lookalikes with different pronunciation, such as subsistence (/səbˈsɪstəns/) or consistent (/kənˈsɪstənt/), whose endings do not match the target rhyme.
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, OCTANOVE, WIKTIONARY.