When we talk about duration, we can specify the length of an action (‘we walked for an hour’), or we can focus on the ongoing duration of the action without reference to its length (‘while we were walking, it started to rain’). When we talk about frequency, we indicate how often an action occurs. This chapter will show you how to express both duration and frequency in Mandarin.
Duration phrases can be used to indicate how long an action occurs. To indicate the duration of an action, follow the verb with a time phrase:
subject + verb + duration
Only open-ended actions have duration. Open-ended actions include 买/買 mǎi ‘to shop,’ 学/學 xué ‘to study,’ 看 kàn ‘to look at,’ ‘to watch,’ ‘to read,’ 吃 chī ‘to eat,’ 睡 shuì ‘to sleep,’ 唱 chàng ‘to sing,’ 洗 xǐ ‘to wash,’ etc.
When the action verb does not have an object noun phrase, the duration phrase simply follows the verb. If the verb is suffixed with 了 le, the duration phrase follows 了 le.
我想在中国住一年。
我想在中國住一年。
Wǒ xiǎng zài Zhōngguó zhù yīnián.
I plan to live in China for a year.
他病了三天。
Tā bìng le sāntiān.
He was sick for three days.
When the verb takes an object noun phrase, duration may be indicated using the following sentence patterns. In all of these patterns, the verb is followed by its object or by a duration phrase. A single verb is never followed directly by both an object and a duration phrase, with one exception. If the object is a pronoun, the pronoun may occur after the verb and before the duration phrase.
Pattern 1: verb + object verb + duration
The verb occurs twice in the verb phrase. First it is followed by the object, then it is followed by the duration phrase.
| Say this | Not this |
| 我每天晚上看书看四个小时。 | *我每天晚上看书四个小时。 |
| 我每天晚上看書看四個小時。 | 我每天晚上看書四個小時。 |
| Wǒ měitiān wǎnshang kàn shū | Wǒ měitiān wǎnshang kàn shū |
| kàn sì gè xiǎoshí. | sì gè xiǎosí. |
Every night I read (books) for four hours.
If the sentence refers to a past event, the second occurrence of the verb is followed by 了 le.
我睡觉睡了八个钟头。
我睡覺睡了八個鐘頭。
Wǒ shuì jiào shuì le bā gè zhōngtóu.
I slept for eight hours.
我等他等了三个小时。
我等他等了三個小時。
Wǒ děng tā děng le sān gè xiǎoshí.
I waited for him for three hours.
► 37.1
Pattern 2: verb + object 有 yǒu + duration
The verb and its object are stated first, followed by 有 yǒu and the duration phrase. 有 yǒu is not directly followed by 了 le, though 了 le may occur at the end of the sentence.
我等王明有三个小时了。
我等王明有三個小時了。
Wǒ děng Wáng Míng yǒu sān gè xiǎoshí le.
I have been waiting for Wang Ming for three hours.
Pattern 3: verb + duration 的 de object noun phrase
The duration phrase plus 的 de occurs immediately before the object noun phrase. This pattern cannot be used when the object noun phrase is a pronoun.
我学了两年的中文。
我學了兩年的中文。
Wǒ xué le liǎng nián de Zhōngwén.
I studied Chinese for two years.
我睡了八个钟头的觉。
我睡了八個鐘頭的覺。
Wǒ shuì le bā gè zhōngtóu de jiào.
I slept for eight hours.
的 de is sometimes omitted.
那个学生已经学了两年(的)中文了。
那個學生已經學了兩年(的)中文了。
Nàge xuésheng yǐjing xué le liǎng nián (de) Zhōngwén le.
That student has been studying Chinese for two years already.
Pattern 4: object noun phrase, verb + duration
The object noun phrase may occur at the beginning of the sentence, before the subject, as a topic. The verb is then directly followed by the duration phrase. This pattern cannot be used when the object noun phrase is a pronoun or a default object.
这个问题，我已经想了很久了。
這個問題，我已經想了很久了。
Zhège wèntí, wǒ yǐjing xiǎng le hěn jiǔ le.
This problem, I have already thought about (it) for a long time.
中文，我已经学了四年了。
中文，我已經學了四年了。
Zhōngwén, wǒ yǐjing xué le sìnián le.
Chinese, I’ve already studied (it) for four years.
中文，我至少会学两年。
中文，我至少會學兩年。
Zhōngwén, wǒ zhìshǎo huì xué liǎng nián.
Chinese, at the very least I will study (it) for two years.
► 57.1.2.1
Note the difference between phrases that indicate duration and those that indicate time when.
Time phrases that indicate the duration of a situation always occur after the verb.
我学了两个小时了。
我學了兩個小時了。
Wǒ xué le liǎng gè xiǎoshí le.
I studied for two hours.
Time phrases that indicate the time when a situation takes place always occur before the verb:
我昨天学了中文。
我昨天學了中文。
Wǒ zuótiān xué le Zhōngwén.
I studied Chinese yesterday.
A sentence may include both a time when phrase and a duration phrase.
我昨天学了两个小时。
我昨天學了兩個小時。
Wǒ zuótiān xué le liǎng gè xiǎoshí.
Yesterday I studied for two hours.
In Mandarin, only situations that occur can be described in terms of their duration. If a situation does not occur, the duration pattern cannot be used to describe it. To indicate the length of time that something has not occurred, put the time phrase before the [prepositional phrase +] verb or verb phrase.
我两天没睡觉。
我兩天沒睡覺。
Wǒ liǎng tiān méi shuì jiào.
I haven’t slept for two days.
他三年沒有抽煙。
Tā sān nián méi yǒu chōu yān.
He hasn’t smoked for three years.
To emphasize the ongoing duration of an action without specifying the length of the duration, follow the verb with the suffix 着/著 zhe. To indicate that an action is ongoing at the moment of speaking, 在 zài or 正在 zhèngzài may also precede the verb. 呢 ne may occur at the end of the sentence.
他在说着话呢。
他在說著話呢。
Tā zài shuōzhe huà ne.
He is speaking.
她正在吃着早饭呢。
她正在吃著早飯呢。
Tā zhèngzài chīzhe zǎofàn ne.
She is eating breakfast right now.
在 zài before the verb may also mark duration without the verb suffix 着/著 zhe.
他在说话呢。
他在說話呢。
Tā zài shuō huà ne.
He is speaking.
我们在吃饭呢。
我們在吃飯呢。
Wǒmen zài chī fàn ne.
We are eating right now. (We are right in the middle of eating.)
The duration suffix 着/著 zhe is often used with verbs that refer to the placement or location of an object.
街上站着很多人。
街上站著很多人。
Jiēshàng zhànzhe hěn duō rén.
There are a lot of people standing in the street.
公共汽车上坐着很多人。
公共汽車上坐著很多人。
Gōnggòng qìchē shàng zuòzhe hěn duō rén.
There are a lot of people sitting on the bus.
► 34.4
This use of 着/著 zhe is similar to the use of the present progressive verb suffix ‘-ing’ in English in its focus on ongoing actions. However, 着/著 zhe and ‘-ing’ are not always equivalent. For example, 着/著 zhe can be used in Mandarin to emphasize the duration of an adjectival verb. The English equivalent does not typically use ‘-ing.’
她的臉紅著呢。
Tā de liǎn hóngzhe ne.
Her face is red. (Not ‘Her face is being red.’)
汤热着呢。(AV)
湯熱著呢。
Tāng rèzhe ne.
The soup is hot. (Not ‘The soup is being hot.’)
In Mandarin, 着/著 zhe may also be suffixed to certain verbs in commands. The English equivalent does not ordinarily involve ‘-ing.’
| 拿着！/拿著！ | Názhe! | Hold it!/Take it! |
| 记着！/記著！ | Jìzhe! | Remember! |
| 等着！/等著！ | Děngzhe! | Wait! |
| 坐着！/坐著！ | Zuòzhe! | Sit! |
► 51.1.1
To emphasize the ongoing duration of a situation or state, use the adverb 还/還 hái before the [prepositional phrase +] verb or verb phrase. In affirmative sentences and questions, this use of 还/還 hái can often be translated into English with the word ‘still.’
他还在中国。
他還在中國。
Tā hái zài Zhōngguó.
He is still in China.
你还喜欢他吗？
你還喜歡他嗎？
Nǐ hái xǐhuan tā ma?
Do you still like him?
In negative sentences, this use of 还/還 hái can often be translated into English with the phrase ‘not yet.’
他还没结婚。
他還沒結婚。
Tā hái méi jiéhūn.
He has not yet married. (He still hasn’t married.)
我还没看那个电影。
我還沒看那個電影。
Wǒ hái méi kàn nàge diànyǐng.
I have not yet seen that movie. (I still haven’t seen that movie.)
When two events occur at the same time, we sometimes consider one event to be the main event and the other to be the background event. To signal that a background event is ongoing as the main event occurs, follow the verb of the background event with the verb suffix 着/著 zhe.
我們喝著咖啡談話。
Wǒmen hēzhe kāfēi tán huà.
We talked while drinking coffee. (‘drinking coffee’ is the background event)
他看着电视吃早饭。
他看著電視吃早飯。
Tā kànzhe diànshì chī zǎofàn.
He eats breakfast while watching television. (‘watching television’ is the background event)
To indicate that an event is a background event without focusing on its duration, use 的时候/ 的時候 de shíhou ‘when, while.’
我在中国的时候认识他了。
我在中國的時候認識他了。
Wǒ zài Zhōngguó de shíhou rènshi tā le.
While I was in China, I met him.
► 43.1
The classifiers 次 cì ‘number of times’ and 遍 biàn ‘a time’ are used to indicate frequency. They are always preceded by a number or the question words 几/幾 jǐ or 多少 duōshǎo ‘how many.’ 次 cì can be used to refer to the frequency of any kind of action. 遍 biàn is more restricted in its use and refers only to actions that have been performed from beginning to end.
To indicate the frequency of an action, follow the action verb with number + 次 cì or 遍 biàn ‘times’ to indicate the ‘number of times’ that the action occurs. If the verb is suffixed with 了 le or 过/過 guo, the frequency phrase occurs after the verb suffix.
我已经说了三次，你怎么还不懂？
我已經說了三次，你怎麼還不懂？
Wǒ yǐjing shuō le sān cì, nǐ zěnme hái bù dǒng?
I’ve already said it three times, how can you still not understand? (遍 biàn can be used instead of 次 cì in this sentence.)
A verb may be followed by both a frequency expression and an object. The frequency expression always precedes the object.
There are several ways to indicate frequency.
Pattern 1: verb + object, verb + frequency
If the verb takes an object, the verb may be repeated, once followed by the object, and once followed by the frequency expression.
我去年坐飞机坐了三次。(遍 biàn cannot be used here.)
我去年坐飛機坐了三次。
Wǒ qùnián zuò fēijī zuò le sān cì.
Last year I rode airplanes three times.
Pattern 2: verb + frequency + object noun phrase
The frequency expression can occur between the verb and its object.
她坐过一次飞机。(遍 biàn cannot be used here.)
她坐過一次飛機。
Tā zuòguo yī cì fēijī.
She’s ridden on a plane once.
我给他打了两次电话。(遍 biàn cannot be used here.)
我給他打了兩次電話。
Wǒ gěi tā dǎ le liǎng cì diànhuà.
I called him on the phone twice.
Pattern 3: object noun phrase, verb + frequency
If the verb takes an object, the object may be topicalized and presented first in the sentence:
那个电影，我看过两次。(遍 biàn can be used here.)
那個電影，我看過兩次。
Nàge diànyǐng, wǒ kànguo liǎng cì.
That movie, I have seen it twice.
西安，我去过一次。(遍 biàn can be used here)
西安，我去過一次。
Xī’ān, wǒ qùguo yīcì.
Xi’an, I’ve been there once.
► 57.1.2.1