Aspect
- Also known as: 动作状态 (dòngzuò zhuàngtài) and 语态 (yǔtài).
Chinese does not use the concept of formal tenses. Instead, it employs what is called "grammatical aspect." Rather than conjugating its verbs, Chinese uses particles to indicate how a verb works within a particular timeframe, or how the verb relates to the flow of time. The particles most often used to indicate aspect in Chinese are 了 (le), 过 (guo), and 着 (zhe).
A New Mindset
Because Chinese does not have tenses, the question, "how do you form the past tense in Chinese?" is nonsensical. The real question is, "how do you refer to events in the past in Chinese?" You do this through aspect in Chinese, not tense[1].
Aspectual Particles
Aspect is expressed in Chinese through several key particles (click through for more information on each):
- 了: The Perfective Aspectual Particle
- 过: The Experiential Aspectual Particle
- 着: The Durative Aspectual Particle
Sources and further reading
- ↑ See Sinosplice.com: "Aspect, Not Tense"
- 外国人实用汉语语法(中英文对照) (pp. 403 - 444)
