Time words and word order
In Chinese, time words can appear in one of two positions in the sentence: either at the beginning of the sentence (before the subject), or directly after the subject. The structures are:
Time + Subject + Verb + Object
Subject + Time + Verb + Object
So this is one of the rare occasions where if you start speaking with English word order (time first), you can carry on and get away with it.
Some examples:
- 昨天 我 去 了 酒吧。
- 我 昨天 去 了 酒吧。
- 下 个 星期 他 要 回国。
- 他 下 个 星期 要 回国。
See also
Sources and further reading
Books
- Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 205-6) →buy
