Time words and word order

Remembering where to put the time words, such as "yesterday," "tomorrow," "this week" etc., in a sentence is really important in order to speak Chinese correctly. In Chinese you get two choices.

Structure

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 + Subj. + Verb + Obj.

Subj. + Time + Verb + Obj.

So if you start speaking with "time first" English word order, you can carry on and get away with it. If, however, you're saving the time word for the end of the sentence, you can be pretty sure that it doesn't sound at all natural to your Chinese audience.

Examples

• 昨天 我 去 了 酒吧 。 Zuótiān wǒ qù le jiǔbā. Yesterday I went to the bar.
• 我 昨天 去 了 酒吧 。 Wǒ zuótiān qù le jiǔbā. I went to the bar yesterday.

• 下 个 星期 他 要 回国 。 Xià gè xīngqī tā yào huíguó. Next week he is going back to his country.
• 他 下 个 星期 要 回国 。 Tā xià gè xīngqī yào huíguó. He is going back to his country next week.

• 明年 我 要 开 一 个 公司 。 Míngnián wǒ yào kāi yī gè gōngsī. Next year I want to open a company.
• 我 明年 要 开 一 个 公司 。 Wǒ míngnián yào kāi yī gè gōngsī. I want to open a company next year.

• 下 个 月我们 结婚 吧 ？ Xià gè yuè wǒmen jiéhūn ba? Next month shall we get married?
• 我们 下 个 月 结婚 吧 ？ Wǒmen xià gè yuè jiéhūn ba? Shall we get married next month?

• 现在 你 能 来 我 办公室 吗 ？ Xiànzài nǐ néng lái wǒ bàngōngshì ma? Now you can come to my office?
• 你 现在 能 来 我 办公室 吗 ？ Nǐ xiànzài néng lái wǒ bàngōngshì ma? Can you come to my office now?

See also

• Word order
• Using "zai" with verbs
• Wanting to do something with yao
• Expressing completion with le

Sources and further reading

Books

• Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 75-7) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 205-6) →buy
• 40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (基础汉语40课上册） (p. 98)→buy