Expressing actions in progress with "zai"

Revision as of 09:28, 21 November 2011 by Jonathan.pope (talk | contribs)

在 (zài) and 正在 (zhèngzài) can be used as an auxiliary verb to express that an action is ongoing or in progress. This is often the equivalent of present continuous in English.

The structure is:

Subject + 在 + Verb + Object

or

Subject + 正在 + Verb + Object

Some examples:

  • 看 报纸
  • 喝 啤酒。
  • 我们 正在 学习 中文。
  • 他们 正在 跳舞。

See also