Specifying Time in Mandarin Chinese

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We previously discussed how to specify position, now we will discuss how to specify time, a specification of time appears before a specification of place, directly after the subject. It can also occur before the subject if the time specification expresses a specific determined timeframe, the following example will show this:

  • 2003年我看见你了 (2003 nián wǒ kànjiàn n�? le) - Literal: 2003 year I see you [PAST.P] - I saw you in 2003
  • 2003年12月15日我看见你了 - (2003 nián 12 yuè 15 rì wǒ kànjiàn n�? le) - Literal: 2003 year 12 month 15 day I see you [PAST.P] - I saw you the 15th of December, 2003
  • 昨天我看见你了 (zúoti�?n wǒ kànjiàn n�? le) - Literal: yesterday I see you [PAST.P] - I saw you yesterday
  • 今天我看见你了 (jīnti�?n wǒ kànjiàn n�? le) - Literal: today I see you [PAST.P] - I saw you today
  • 明天我看见你 (míngti�?n wǒ kànjiàn n�?) - Literal: tomorrow I see you - I see you tomorrow
  • 下个月我看见你 (xià ge yuè wǒ kànjiàn n�?) - Literal: next [MW] month I see you - I see you next month
  • 去月[上個月]我看见你了 (shàng ge yuè wǒ kànjiàn n�? le) - Literal: previous month I see you [PAST.P] - I saw you last month
  • 现在我看见你 (xiànzài wǒ kànjiàn n�?) - Literal: now I see you - I see you now
  • 从�?我看见过你 (cóngqián wǒ kànjiàn n�?) - Literal: from before I see [PAST.P] you - I once saw you long ago


Note that in all these examples above, you can also place the time specification behind the subject!


[edit]

Relational Expressions of Dates

天 day

  • 大前天 - da4qian2tian1 - the day before the day before yesterday
  • 前天 - qian2tian1 - the day before yesterday
  • 昨天 - zuo2tian1 - yesterday
  • 今天 - jin1tian1 - today
  • 明天 - ming2tian1 - tomorrow
  • 後天 - hou4tian1 - the day after tomorrow
  • 大後天 - da4hou4tian1 - that day after the day after tomorrow

works in the same manner for 年 - nian2 - year.




Other usable time specifications of this category are:

  • 春天 - chūnti�?n - spring
  • 夏天 - xiàti�?n - summer
  • 秋天 - qiūti�?n - autumn
  • 冬天 - d�?ngti�?n - winter
  • 过去 - guòqù - in the past
  • 以前 - y�?qián - in the past, earlier, used to
  • 当时 - d�?ngshí - at that time
  • 刚�? - g�?ngcái - just
  • 最今[最近] - zuìjīn - recently


A specification of time can also be an adverb, which is by definition associated with a verb. These adverbs always appear behind the subject.

Below a list of some of the most common adverbs of time:


  • 已经 - y�?jīng - already
  • 常常 - chángcháng - often
  • 很久 - hěnjiǔ - for a long time (duration)
  • 同时 - tóngshí - simultaneously
  • 立刻 - lìkè - at once
  • 马上 - mǎshàng - immediately
  • 先�?� - xi�?nhòu - sooner or later
  • 早�?[早就] - zǎojiǔ - for a long time [already]
[edit]

Expressing repetition

To express doing something again, there are �?� (yòu) and �? (zài), the latter is being used for future repetitions that have not occured yet, otherwise the former is used. When there is an auxiliary modal verb in the sentence, then �?� (yòu) must precede it while and �? (zài) must come behind it:

  • 我�?�去北京了 (wǒ yòu qù běijīng le) - Literal: I again go Beijing [PAST.P] - I went to Beijing again
  • 我�?去北京了 (wǒ zài qù běijīng) - Literal: I again go Beijing - I go to Beijing again


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