Expressing Past/Present/Future in Mandarin Chinese
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The English language has quite a number of tenses to express in what timeframe something takes place. Of course Chinese enables you the express such things, albeit in a different way. A particle that you will often see in this chapter is the particle 了(le), which has several uses in combination with other words.
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Expressing completed actions (past tense)
Completed actions are usually expressed by using the past particle 了(le). This particle appears after the verb and object, but if the object contains a numeral or other quantitive construct it appears after the verb but "before" the object. It is also possible to put 了(le) at "both" places if the object doesn't contain such a quantitive construct.
- 我看見(了)你了。 (wǒ kànjiàn (le) nĭ le) - Literal: I see ([PAST.P]) you [PAST.P] - I saw you
- 我看見了你吗。 (wǒ kànjiàn le nĭ ma?) - Literal: I see [PAST.P] you [QP]? - Did I see you?
- 我看見了三个人。 (wǒ kànjiàn le sān ge rén) - Literal: I see [PAST.P] three [MW] person - I saw three persons
The negation of the past tense is never formed with 不 (bù), but always with 没 (méi) or 没有 (méi yòu), this latter long-form is required when offering a choice in a question. The particle 了(le) to indicate the past, is not used anymore in negated sentences:
- 我没看見你。 (wǒ mèi kànjiàn nĭ) - Literal: I not see you - I didn't see you
- 我不看見你。 (wǒ bù kànjiàn nĭ) - Literal: I not see you - I don't see you
- 我看見没看見你? (wǒ kànjiàn mèi kànjiàn nĭ?) - Literal: I see not see you? - Did I see you?
- 我看見不看見你? (wǒ kànjiàn bù kànjiàn nĭ??) - Literal: I see not see you? - Do I see you?
- 我看見(了)你了没有? (wǒ kànjiàn (le) nĭ le méi yòu?) - Literal: I see ([PAST.P]) you [PAST.P] not have? - Did I see you?
- 我没看見三个人 (wǒ mèi kànjiàn sān ge rén) - Literal: I not see three [MW] person - I did not see three persons
When there are multiple verbs in the sentence, 了 is applied to the last verb.
It is also possible that there is a numeral construct in the object, and 了 still appears twice in the sentence. In this case it can mean that the action happened in the past, but the number mentioned might increase because it is still ongoing:
- 我看見了三个人了 (wǒ kànjiàn le sān ge rén le) - Literal: I see [PAST.P] three [MW] person [PAST.P] - I have seen three persons
In this last sentence, it is implied that the subject has seen three persons so-far, and will surely see more.
When such a sentence comes as an exclamation it has another implicit meaning:
我看見了三个人了! (wǒ kànjiàn le sān ge rén le!) - Literal: I see [PAST.P] three [MW] person [PAST.P]! - I saw (as many as) three people!
Imagine the subject being in a desert and seeing as many as three people in the middle of nowhere, where no people are to be expected normally! Such constructs imply an emphasis on the number.
Constructions without the past particle
There are several constructions that have to be made without the past particle 了.
了 can't be used with the verbs 是 and 在, nor with most auxiliary verbs we discussed in an earlier chapter. When you want to express a past tense in this case, you need to add a time specification after the subject:
- 我昨天在北京 (wǒ zuótiān zài běijīng) - Literal: I yesterday located-at Beijing - I was in Beijing yesterday
- 我昨天是老师 (wǒ zuótiān shì lǎoshī) - Literal: I yesterday am teacher - I was a teacher yesterday
Habitual expressions do not use 了 either:
- 去年我常常去北京 (qùnián wǒ chángcháng qú běijīng) - past year I often go Beijing - I often went to Beijing last year
了 isn't used with verbs expressing a subjective feeling or observation either, and it is rarely used in relative clauses.
Constructions with a subordinate clause
A common construction in chinese is the following construction made with 了 directly after the verb and before the object and 就 (jiù) a start of the main clause:
- 我看見了你, 就给你词典 (wǒ kànjiàn le nĭ, jiù gěi nĭ cídiǎn) - Literal: I see [PAST.P] you, so give you dictionary - After I have seen you, I give you the dictionary
Note that a second 了 at the end of the main clause makes everything a past event:
- 我看見了你, 就给你词典了 (wǒ kànjiàn le nĭ, jiù gěi nĭ cídiǎn) - Literal: I see [PAST.P] you, so give you dictionary [PAST.P] - After I saw you, I gave you the dictionary
Expressing the unspecific past
了 is usually used to express a specific time in the past, like "yesterday", "last year" etc... The past particle 过 (guò) expresses a more unspecific time in the often distant past, comparable to the use of "once" in english:
过 (guò) appears after the verb and before the object.
- 我看見过你 (wǒ kànjiàn guò nĭ) - Literal: I see [PAST.P] you - I saw you once
Negation of this type of past construction also happens with 没 (méi) and 过 (guò) does remain in the negated sentence, unlike 了, such negations express the concept "never":
- 我没看見过你 (wǒ méi kànjiàn guò nĭ) - Literal: I not see [PAST.P] you - I never saw you
- 我看見过你没有? (wǒ kànjiàn guò nĭ méi yòu?) - Literal: I see [PAST.P] you not have? - Have I ever seen you?
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Completed actions in the future
Expressing completed (perfective) actions in the future can be done with the past particle 了, in combination with a time specification in the future, this time specification appears before the subject:
- 明天我就会看見你了 (míngtīan wǒ kànjiàn nĭ le) - Literal: tomorrow I see you [PAST.P] - Tomorrow I will have seen you
Such constructions are often used as subordinate clauses:
- 明天我看見你了, 我给你词典 (míngtīan wǒ kànjiàn nĭ le, wǒ gěi nĭ cídiǎn) - Literal: tomorrow I see you [PAST.P], I give you dictionary - When I have seen you tomorrow, I give you the dictionary
Expressing actions in the near future (future tense)
When wanting to express actions in the near future, you can use the construct: 要(yào)/就(jiù)/快(kuài)...了(le), here the modal particle 了 appears at the end of the sentence. When using 快 you can't use a construct of time like the word "yesterday".
- 我要看見你了 (wǒ yào kànjiàn nĭ le!) - Literal: I going-to see you [MP] - I'm about to see you, I will soon see you
- 明天我要看見你了 (míngtīan wǒ yào kànjiàn nĭ le) - Literal: tomorrow I going-to see you [MP] - I will see you tomorrow
要/就/快 appears before the verb. Any time specification appears before the subject, but with 快 you use a time specification.
Expressing changes in present tense
The modal particle 了 also has another use: when used after an adjective or noun it conveys the meaning "has become"
- 我病 (wǒ bìng) - Literal: I ill - I'm ill
- 我病了 (wǒ bìng le) - Literal: I ill [MP] - I became ill
In such situations 了 expresses a clear change of state.
Expressing continuous tense
The continuous tense, being performing the action right now, is expressable in chinese with 正在 (zhèngzài), or just 正 (zhèng) or 在 (zài), although this is optional. The particle 呢 (ne) however, is always placed at the end of the sentence:
- 我(正在)看你呢 (wǒ (zhèngzài) kàn nĭ ne) - Literal: I (in-progress) watch you [P] - I'm looking at you
The negation of this is formed with 没 (méi), in which case 正在 (zhèngzài) will not not appear anymore, do note that 呢 (ne) will remain.
- 我没看你呢 (wǒ méi kàn nĭ ne) - Literal: I not watch you [QP] - I'm not looking at you
This construct can also appear in other tenses:
- 我当时(正在)看你了呢 (wǒ dāngshí (zhèngzài) kàn nĭ le ne) - Literal: I then (in-progress) watch you [P] - I was looking at you
Durative aspect
Chinese has something called a durative aspect, which is formend with 着 (zhe). It's expresses the continuancy of an action, even after its completion.
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