Grammar · 语法 yǔfǎ

时态

shítài

Mandarin verbs never change form: time words, 了, 过, 着, 在, and 会 do the work English does with conjugation.

~13 min read

字源与逻辑 zìyuán yǔ luójí Etymology & The Logic of a Tenseless Language

字源洞见 zìyuán dòngjiàn · Etymological Insight

时态 shítài = 时 shí (time, season) + 态 tài (state, form). The word is a modern coinage, built to translate the European grammatical concept of tense. Chinese grammarians never needed it before contact with Latin-modeled grammar: the first systematic Chinese grammar, Mǎ Jiànzhōng's 马氏文通 (Mǎshì Wéntōng, 1898), had to invent vocabulary for categories like tense precisely because the language itself does not mark them.

The distinction that unlocks the whole system: tense locates an event relative to the moment of speaking (before, during, after now); aspect describes the internal shape of the event (completed, ongoing, experienced). English fuses both into verb endings. Mandarin drops tense entirely and keeps a precise aspect system: 了 le for completion, 过 guo for experience, 着 zhe for sustained states, 在 zài for actions in progress. Whether the event sits in the past, present, or future is left to time words and context.

This is why 吃 chī covers "eat", "ate", "eats", and "will eat". 我昨天吃饺子 and 我明天吃饺子 use the identical verb; 昨天 (yesterday) and 明天 (tomorrow) carry all the temporal information. For an English speaker the reflex to "conjugate" 吃 has to be unlearned. Nothing is missing from the Chinese sentence, the time-marking labor has simply moved out of the verb and into the adverbs.

The payoff for learners is real: there are no irregular verbs, no conjugation tables, no agreement. The cost is a different discipline: choosing the right aspect particle, and placing time words where the grammar demands. Both are learnable systems, and both are laid out below.

核心结构 héxīn jiégòu Core Patterns

时间词位置 shíjiāncí wèizhì · Where time words go Subject + Time + Verb → 我明天去上海 (I'm going to Shanghai tomorrow)
Time + Subject + Verb → 明天我去上海 (same meaning, time emphasized)
✗ Never sentence-final: ✗ 我去上海明天 (English word order does not transfer)

学者洞见 xuézhě dòngjiàn · Time before the verb, always

The one hard rule: temporal information precedes the verb. Time words sit either before or after the subject, and both orders are correct; the fronted version (明天我去) foregrounds the time frame, the default version (我明天去) states it neutrally. English speakers produce the ungrammatical ✗我去上海明天 for months because English happily ends sentences with "tomorrow". Mandarin never does.

Larger units come before smaller ones, the same big-to-small logic as Chinese addresses and dates: 去年三月五号早上八点 (last year, March 5th, 8 a.m.). Once a time frame is established, it persists until changed, so a narrative can set 昨天 once and run a dozen tenseless verbs inside it without repeating the time word.

过去 guòqù Expressing the Past

动词 + 了 le completed action, the closest thing to a past tense

完成 completion

了 after the verb marks the action as completed. With a past time word it produces what English renders as simple past: 我昨天买了一本书 (I bought a book yesterday). But 了 marks completion, not pastness: 明天吃了饭再走 (leave tomorrow after finishing dinner) puts 了 in a future clause. The full anatomy of this particle, including sentence-final 了 and the double-了 construction, has its own entry: 了.

我昨天看了一部电影。

Wǒ zuótiān kàn le yī bù diànyǐng.

I watched a movie yesterday.

他吃了早饭就去上班了。

Tā chī le zǎofàn jiù qù shàngbān le.

He went to work right after eating breakfast.

动词 + 过 guo past experience, "have ever done"

经历 experience

过 marks that the subject has undergone the experience at least once, at some indefinite point. 我去过中国 (I have been to China) says nothing about when; it registers the experience itself. Contrast 我去了中国, a specific completed trip. Negation keeps 过 but uses 没: 我没去过中国 (I have never been to China). Full treatment in the 过 entry.

你吃过北京烤鸭吗？

Nǐ chī guo Běijīng kǎoyā ma?

Have you ever had Peking duck?

我们以前见过面。

Wǒmen yǐqián jiàn guo miàn.

We've met before.

辨析 biànxī · 了 vs. 过去了北京 answers "what did you do?" (a specific trip). 去过北京 answers "have you ever?" (a life experience). English "went" vs. "have been" catches most of the difference, and the mapping is reliable enough to lean on.

是……的 shì … de spotlighting the details of a known past event

焦点 focus

When the event itself is already established and the question is when, where, how, or with whom it happened, Mandarin uses 是……的 instead of 了: 我是坐飞机来的 (I came by plane; that I came is old news, the plane is the point). Questions about past details take the same frame: 你是什么时候到的？(When did you arrive?). The construction has its own entry: 是……的.

他是去年来北京的。

Tā shì qùnián lái Běijīng de.

It was last year that he came to Beijing.

这是在哪儿买的？

Zhè shì zài nǎr mǎi de?

Where was this bought?

刚 · 已经 · 以前 gāng · yǐjīng · yǐqián just now · already · formerly, the past-pointing adverbs

副词 adverbs

刚 gāng (just now) places an action in the immediate past: 他刚走 (he just left). 已经 yǐjīng (already) pairs with 了 to mark a completed state: 我已经吃了 (I've already eaten). 以前 yǐqián (before, formerly) frames a whole clause in the past: 我以前住在上海 (I used to live in Shanghai). Each of the first two has its own entry: 刚 and 已经.

电影已经开始了。

Diànyǐng yǐjīng kāishǐ le.

The movie has already started.

我以前不喜欢喝茶，现在喜欢了。

Wǒ yǐqián bù xǐhuan hē chá, xiànzài xǐhuan le.

I didn't use to like tea; now I do.

现在 xiànzài Expressing the Present

光杆动词 guānggǎn dòngcí the bare verb: habits, facts, general truths

习惯 habitual

The unmarked verb is the default for habitual actions and standing facts, usually anchored by a frequency word: 我每天喝咖啡 (I drink coffee every day), 他住在北京 (he lives in Beijing), 地球绕太阳转 (the earth orbits the sun). No particle needed; adding 了 here would wrongly signal a completed event.

我每天早上六点起床。

Wǒ měitiān zǎoshang liù diǎn qǐchuáng.

I get up at six every morning.

她在一家医院工作。

Tā zài yī jiā yīyuàn gōngzuò.

She works at a hospital.

在 / 正在 + 动词 (……呢) zài / zhèngzài … (ne) action in progress right now

进行 progressive

在 before the verb marks an action in progress: 我在吃饭 (I'm eating). 正在 sharpens the "right at this moment" reading: 他正在开会 (he's in a meeting right now). Sentence-final 呢 can soften or replace either: 我吃饭呢. The progressive combines freely with past time words, 昨天晚上八点我在看书 (at 8 last night I was reading), which is how Mandarin does "was doing". See the 在 entry.

你在做什么？我在写报告。

Nǐ zài zuò shénme? Wǒ zài xiě bàogào.

What are you doing? I'm writing a report.

别打电话，他正在睡觉呢。

Bié dǎ diànhuà, tā zhèngzài shuìjiào ne.

Don't call, he's sleeping right now.

动词 + 着 zhe sustained state: the door stands open

持续 continuous state

着 marks a state that holds: 门开着 (the door is open), 墙上挂着一幅画 (a painting hangs on the wall), 他穿着一件红衣服 (he's wearing a red shirt). Where 在 tracks an activity unfolding, 着 freezes the result and holds it. The contrast is sharpest with verbs like 穿: 他在穿衣服 (he is putting clothes on) vs. 他穿着衣服 (he has clothes on). Full entry: 着.

桌子上放着一本书。

Zhuōzi shàng fàng zhe yī běn shū.

A book is lying on the table.

他笑着说："没关系。"

Tā xiào zhe shuō: "Méi guānxi."

He said with a smile, "It's fine."

将来 jiānglái Expressing the Future

会 huì prediction: what will happen

预测 prediction

会 asserts that something will happen: 明天会下雨 (it will rain tomorrow), 他会来的 (he'll come, don't worry). The sentence-final 的 adds reassurance. This future sense lives alongside 会's "learned ability" sense (我会游泳, I can swim); the three-way contrast with 能 and 可以 has its own entry: 会 · 能 · 可以.

别担心，一切都会好的。

Bié dānxīn, yīqiè dōu huì hǎo de.

Don't worry, everything will be fine.

你觉得他会同意吗？

Nǐ juéde tā huì tóngyì ma?

Do you think he'll agree?

要 · 打算 · 准备 yào · dǎsuàn · zhǔnbèi intention and plan: what someone is going to do

打算 intention

要 before a verb marks intention or imminence: 我要回家 (I'm going home / I want to go home; context decides). 打算 dǎsuàn (to plan) and 准备 zhǔnbèi (to prepare, to be about to) make the plan explicit: 我打算明年去中国 (I plan to go to China next year). Where 会 predicts the world, 要 and 打算 announce the subject's own agenda.

我们要在这儿住三天。

Wǒmen yào zài zhèr zhù sān tiān.

We're going to stay here for three days.

你打算什么时候结婚？

Nǐ dǎsuàn shénme shíhou jiéhūn?

When do you plan to get married?

快要……了 · 就要……了 kuàiyào … le · jiùyào … le imminence: about to happen

即将 imminent

快要……了 (or 快……了, 就要……了) marks an event on the verge of happening: 火车快要开了 (the train is about to leave), 天快黑了 (it's getting dark). This is the change-of-state 了, announcing that the new situation is imminent. 就要……了 accepts a specific time word in front (八点就要上课了); 快要……了 does not.

春节快要到了。

Chūnjié kuàiyào dào le.

Chinese New Year is almost here.

飞机八点就要起飞了。

Fēijī bā diǎn jiùyào qǐfēi le.

The plane takes off at eight.

时间词 + 光杆动词 shíjiāncí + verb the plain future: tomorrow I go

默认 default

A future time word with a bare verb is complete and idiomatic: 我明天去上海 (I'm going to Shanghai tomorrow), 下个月放假 (vacation starts next month). No marker is required at all. Learners overuse 会 and 要 here; native speech leaves scheduled, settled future events unmarked, exactly like English "the flight leaves at nine".

我们下星期考试。

Wǒmen xià xīngqī kǎoshì.

We have an exam next week.

他后天回国。

Tā hòutiān huíguó.

He returns to his country the day after tomorrow.

否定与时间 fǒudìng yǔ shíjiān Negating in Time: 不 vs. 没

两个否定词 liǎng gè fǒudìngcí · The two negators split by time 没 (有) → negates completed/experienced events → 我没去 (I didn't go) · 我没去过 (I've never been)
不 → negates habits, states, volition, the future → 我不喝咖啡 (I don't drink coffee) · 我明天不去 (I'm not going tomorrow)
✗ 没 + 了 never combine: ✗ 我没吃了 → 我没吃

学者洞见 xuézhě dòngjiàn · Negation is where tense hides

Mandarin's clearest time distinction lives in its negators. 没 méi denies that an event happened or was completed, so it handles everything English negates with "didn't" or "haven't": 我没看 (I didn't watch it), 他还没来 (he hasn't come yet). 不 bù denies everything else: habits (我不抽烟, I don't smoke), states (我不累, I'm not tired), willingness (他不去, he won't go), and the future (明天不上班, no work tomorrow).

The trap: 没 replaces 了 rather than combining with it. 我吃了 flips to 我没吃, with 了 gone. Keeping 了 after 没 is among the most persistent beginner errors, and dropping it instantly makes the sentence sound right. The full contrast, including 没有 as a verb of non-possession, is in the 没有 entry.

时间词 shíjiāncí Time Words: the Real Tense System

昨天 · 今天 · 明天 zuótiān · jīntiān · míngtiān the day series, and its symmetric siblings

日 days

The day series runs 前天 (day before yesterday) · 昨天 · 今天 · 明天 · 后天 (day after tomorrow). Years mirror it exactly: 前年 · 去年 · 今年 · 明年 · 后年. Weeks and months use 上/下 (above/below) instead: 上个星期 (last week), 下个月 (next month). In the Chinese spatial metaphor, the past sits above and in front (前), the future below and behind (后), the reverse of the English "looking forward to the future".

前天下雨，昨天晴天，今天又下雨了。

Qiántiān xià yǔ, zuótiān qíngtiān, jīntiān yòu xià yǔ le.

It rained the day before yesterday, was clear yesterday, and is raining again today.

以前 · 现在 · 以后 yǐqián · xiànzài · yǐhòu before · now · after: the relative frame

相对 relative

以前 and 以后 attach to any reference point: 三年以前 (three years ago), 吃饭以后 (after eating), or stand alone to mean "formerly" and "from now on". 的时候 de shíhou (when …) frames simultaneity: 我小的时候 (when I was little). These clause-level frames, placed before the verb like all time expressions, let Mandarin build every relative-time meaning English handles with "before/after/when" clauses.

毕业以后，我想去国外工作。

Bìyè yǐhòu, wǒ xiǎng qù guówài gōngzuò.

After graduating, I want to work abroad.

来中国以前，他没用过筷子。

Lái Zhōngguó yǐqián, tā méi yòng guo kuàizi.

Before coming to China, he had never used chopsticks.

时态对照表 shítài duìzhào biǎo English Tense → Mandarin Device

English tense	Mandarin device	Example	Gloss
Simple past	time word + 了	我昨天买了一本书	I bought a book yesterday
Present perfect (ever)	过	我去过中国	I have been to China
Present perfect (already)	已经 … 了	我已经吃了	I have already eaten
Past detail focus	是 … 的	我是坐飞机来的	It was by plane that I came
Past progressive	past time + 在	昨晚八点我在看书	I was reading at 8 last night
Simple present (habit)	bare verb + 每天/常常	我每天喝咖啡	I drink coffee every day
Present progressive	在 / 正在 … (呢)	我在吃饭	I am eating
Present state	着	门开着	The door is open
Future (prediction)	会	明天会下雨	It will rain tomorrow
Future (intention)	要 / 打算	我打算去中国	I plan to go to China
Future (imminent)	快要 … 了	火车快要开了	The train is about to leave
Future (scheduled)	time word + bare verb	我明天去上海	I go to Shanghai tomorrow
Didn't / haven't	没 (有)	我没去	I didn't go
Don't / won't	不	我明天不去	I'm not going tomorrow

成语 chéngyǔ Time in Idioms & Set Phrases

光阴似箭 guāng yīn sì jiàn time flies like an arrow 光阴 (light and shade, i.e. the passage of days) + 似箭 (like an arrow). Often paired with 日月如梭 "sun and moon like a weaver's shuttle." The standard sigh at reunions and graduations: 光阴似箭，一转眼十年过去了 "Time flew; ten years passed in the blink of an eye."

未雨绸缪 wèi yǔ chóu móu bind the window before it rains, prepare in advance From the Book of Odes (诗经·豳风·鸱鸮): a bird repairs its nest before the storm. 未 (not yet) + 雨 (rain) + 绸缪 (to bind tightly). The idiom is the future tense as virtue: act now for what has not yet happened. Common in business and policy speech.

事过境迁 shì guò jìng qiān the affair has passed and the circumstances have changed 事 (the matter) 过 (has passed) 境 (circumstances) 迁 (have shifted). Note 过 in its full verbal sense, the same morpheme that grammaticalized into the experiential particle. Used to wave off old grievances: 事过境迁，别再提了 "It's all in the past, don't bring it up again."

来日方长 lái rì fāng cháng the days to come are long, there will be time 来日 (days that are coming) + 方长 (are just now long). A consolation and a promise: no need to rush or grieve a parting, the future holds more chances. 来 "coming" for the future mirrors 去 "gone" for the past, the same motion metaphor as 去年 (last year).

日新月异 rì xīn yuè yì new with each day, different with each month Echoes the inscription on the bathing basin of King Tang of Shang, quoted in the Great Learning (大学): 苟日新，日日新，又日新 "If one day new, then day by day new, and again daily new." The modern idiom describes rapid change: 中国的城市日新月异 "Chinese cities change by the day."