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lixiaosha
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Joined: Sep 14, 2005
Posts: 41
Status: Offline
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  Posted:
Oct 01, 2005 - 08:45 PM |
 
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| Post subject: confusion:tense between english mandarine |
 could anyone, any foreigner who can speak fluent chinese, tell me why it`s so difficult to show the difference between chinese and english refering to 'TENSE'. it always piss me off when i explain such things to my students. would some kindman do me this favour?? i appreciate for it !
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xiaolaowai
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Joined: Apr 24, 2005
Posts: 67
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Oct 01, 2005 - 09:20 PM |
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are you talking about verb tense to match the subject of a sentence or are you talking about tense to show time (present, future, etc.)...? |
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Kiwi
Post Boaster
Joined: May 07, 2003
Posts: 4763
Status: Offline
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Oct 01, 2005 - 11:02 PM |
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| xiaolaowai wrote: |
| are you talking about verb tense to match the subject of a sentence or are you talking about tense to show time (present, future, etc.)...? |
There is no such thing as "verb tense to match the subject of a sentence".
Tense relates only to time.
Meanwhile, verbs are conjugated according to tense, person, number, voice and mood. |
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One_Drone
Barker
Joined: Mar 10, 2005
Posts: 140
Location: Chang Feng Park
Status: Offline
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Oct 02, 2005 - 03:46 AM |
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just use le for past tense. or otherwise just pretty much indicate the time your speakng about.;
i.e. in a few weeks, i already did something, after five years |
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aurelio
Lurker
Joined: Oct 01, 2005
Posts: 28
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Oct 02, 2005 - 06:39 AM |
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the only thing you need to remembe in Chinese is that there is basically NO tense whatsoever. There is, in theory. In practise, you only need to master the ADVERBS to express tense.
I speak badass Chinese... sorry for not being modest |
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soinno
Talker
Joined: Aug 14, 2005
Posts: 84
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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Oct 02, 2005 - 10:51 AM |
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go pick a grammar book for chinese . |
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Kiwi
Post Boaster
Joined: May 07, 2003
Posts: 4763
Status: Offline
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Oct 02, 2005 - 11:14 AM |
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'le' doesn't indicate past tense in Chinese. It is closer to the perfect tense.
And mastering adverbs isn't going to help you express tense in Chinese. Adverbs tell you how something was done, not when it was done.
Chinese does have grammar structures that serve the same function as tense in English, and to express your meaning clearly and concisely you need to learn these.
Go and buy a good grammar book is the best idea.
I'm not even sure what the first poster is really asking. Does he want to learn Chinese, or does he just want to explain to his English students the differences between Chinese and English in this area? Well, either way getting a Chinese grammar book is probably the best idea. |
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arigato
Barker
Joined: Mar 05, 2005
Posts: 129
Location: Xujiahui
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Oct 02, 2005 - 11:38 AM |
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could be the other way around -- lixiaosha is an englsih teacher, her students are chinese and learning english. |
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xiaolaowai
Seeker
Joined: Apr 24, 2005
Posts: 67
Status: Offline
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Oct 02, 2005 - 12:04 PM |
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ok forgive my ignorance... on the question about what kind of tense...
I do have to say that adverbs can help you express time. I just finished dinner. vs. I finished dinner. There are similar adverbs in Chinese. I do agree they aren't the best way to express tense, but they can offer added accuracy. |
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Wife-of-the-Colour-wolf
Squeeker
Joined: July 14, 2005
Posts: 16
Status: Offline
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Oct 02, 2005 - 12:38 PM |
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There isn't such a clear tense system in Chinese. We use time instead of changing verb to different version as in English. For instance, if we talk about someone who "did" something in the past, we just say that someone "do" something in the past time. However, there are two words we can use for displaying the different tenses: "zai" and "le", Zai means "is doing" and "le" means "already have done". For example," I am watching TV "is -- "Wo zai kan dian shi". You can express future tense with "yao" but it only means "I plan to" or "I want to". |
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lixiaosha
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Joined: Sep 14, 2005
Posts: 41
Status: Offline
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Oct 02, 2005 - 07:40 PM |
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oh god!!it sucks!!
any way,thank u all guys.
is there any chinese grammer book in english edition?? i hope it would do some help!     |
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AxialAGE2
SuperStar
Joined: Apr 11, 2004
Posts: 1563
Status: Offline
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Oct 02, 2005 - 08:34 PM |
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rough guide:
perfect tense to express simple past: verb+le
perfect tense to emphasis an past experience: verb+guo
progressive tense: zheng zai + verb ; zai + verb
auxilaries for " future" : hui, jiang, yao,
something is about to happen: kuai....le
........and more.....
much simpler system than that of Japanese. |
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aurelio
Lurker
Joined: Oct 01, 2005
Posts: 28
Status: Offline
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Oct 02, 2005 - 09:58 PM |
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| Quote: |
And mastering adverbs isn't going to help you express tense in Chinese. Adverbs tell you how something was done, not when it was done.
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Actually, there is such a thing as TIME adverbs...which do tell you WHEN something was done |
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AxialAGE2
SuperStar
Joined: Apr 11, 2004
Posts: 1563
Status: Offline
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Oct 03, 2005 - 09:09 AM |
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| aurelio wrote: |
| Quote: |
And mastering adverbs isn't going to help you express tense in Chinese. Adverbs tell you how something was done, not when it was done.
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Actually, there is such a thing as TIME adverbs...which do tell you WHEN something was done |
eg, zao jiu
cai, |
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