Difference between revisions of "Aspect"
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| − | Chinese does not use the concept of formal tenses. Instead, it employs what is called "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_aspect grammatical aspect]." Because Chinese does not have tenses, the question, "''how do you form the past tense in Chinese?''" is non-sensical. The real question is, "''how do you refer to events in the past in Chinese?''" You do this through ''aspect'', not tense<ref>See Sinosplice.com: http://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2009/11/19/aspect-not-tense</ref>. | + | Chinese does not use the concept of formal tenses. Instead, it employs what is called "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_aspect grammatical aspect]." Because Chinese does not have tenses, the question, "''how do you form the past tense in Chinese?''" is non-sensical. The real question is, "''how do you refer to events in the past in Chinese?''" You do this through ''aspect'', not tense<ref>See Sinosplice.com: "[http://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2009/11/19/aspect-not-tense Aspect, Not Tense]"</ref>. |
== References == | == References == | ||
Revision as of 09:02, 28 February 2011
Chinese does not use the concept of formal tenses. Instead, it employs what is called "grammatical aspect." Because Chinese does not have tenses, the question, "how do you form the past tense in Chinese?" is non-sensical. The real question is, "how do you refer to events in the past in Chinese?" You do this through aspect, not tense[1].
References
- ↑ See Sinosplice.com: "Aspect, Not Tense"
