3.5: Time and Tense
- Page ID
- 89609
\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)
\( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)
\( \newcommand{\dsum}{\displaystyle\sum\limits} \)
\( \newcommand{\dint}{\displaystyle\int\limits} \)
\( \newcommand{\dlim}{\displaystyle\lim\limits} \)
\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)
( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)
\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)
\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)
\( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\)
\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)
\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\)
\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)
\( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\)
\( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)
\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\)
\( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)
\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\)
\( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)
\( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\)
\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)
\( \newcommand{\vectorA}[1]{\vec{#1}} % arrow\)
\( \newcommand{\vectorAt}[1]{\vec{\text{#1}}} % arrow\)
\( \newcommand{\vectorB}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)
\( \newcommand{\vectorC}[1]{\textbf{#1}} \)
\( \newcommand{\vectorD}[1]{\overrightarrow{#1}} \)
\( \newcommand{\vectorDt}[1]{\overrightarrow{\text{#1}}} \)
\( \newcommand{\vectE}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash{\mathbf {#1}}}} \)
\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)
\( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)
\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Today, yesterday, and tomorrow
Speakers of English and other European languages take the verbal category of tense for granted: speaking of the past generally requires past tense. For Chinese (as well as many other languages), this is not so. Time words such as jīntiān ‘today’, zuótiān ‘yesterday’ (both of which share the root tiān ‘sky; day’), or dates (bā hào), may be added to simple sentences containing SVs without any change to the form of the verb, or any other addition to the sentence:
| Zuótiān lěng ma? | Was [it] cold yesterday? | <Zuótiān> bú tài lěng. |
| Zuótiān rè bu rè? | Was [it] hot yesterday? | <Zuótiān> hĕn rè! |
| Zuótiān hĕn máng ma? | Were [you] busy yesterday? | <Zuótiān> hĕn máng! |
| Jīntiān lèi bu lèi? | Are [you] tired today? | <Jīntiān> hái hăo! |
| Èrshíbā hào hěn lěng. | The 28th was quite cold. |
Note the differences in word order between the English and the Chinese in the previous examples:
|
Was it cold? > It was cold. Was it cold yesterday? |
Lěng ma? > Hĕn lěng. Zuótiān lěng ma? |
The appearance of a time word such as míngtiān (or a date) can be sufficient to indicate that an event is certain to occur in the future – something that is also true of English.
| Wǒ míngtiān hěn máng. | I’m busy tomorrow. |
However, at times, Chinese does require some additional acknowledgement of the fact that, unlike the past and present, the future is uncertain. Thus, in talking about future weather, the word huì ‘can; will; likely to’ is in many cases added to the statement of futurity: Míngtiān huì hěn lěng ma? ‘Will [it] be cold tomorrow?’ Huì, while it does correspond to English ‘will’ in this example, is not actually as common as the latter. For the time being, you should be wary of talking about future states.
SVs plus le
Rather than the static notion of past versus present (or, more accurately, past versus nonpast), Chinese is more sensitive to a dynamic notion of ‘phase’, or ‘change’. For example, if a speaker wishes to underscore the relevance of a new situation, he can signal it by the addition of the sentence-final ‘particle’, le:
| Zuótiān bù shūfu, jīntiān hăo le. | [I] didn’t feel well yesterday, but [I]’m okay today. |
An explicit contrast between an earlier situation (zuótiān) and a current one (jīntiān) typically triggers this use of le. However, it is quite possible state the situation at both times without underscoring the change with le, too, as the examples below show.
Other words that can signal prior or current time include:
| earlier | current |
| yǐqián ‘formerly; before; used to [be]’ | xiànzài ‘now; a present’ |
| běnlái ‘originally; at first’; | zuìjìn ‘recently; lately (most-near)’ |
| cóngqián ‘before; in the past’ | mùqián ‘at present; currently (eyes-before)’ |
Examples
| Yǐqián hĕn jĭnzhāng, xiànzài hăo le. | [I] was nervous yesterday, but [I]’m okay now. |
| Xiànzài bú è le! | [I]’m not hungry anymore! |
| Yǐqián bù shūfu. | [It] used to be uncomfortable. |
| Jīntiān rè le! | [It]’s gotten hot today! |
| Zuótiān hěn lèi, jīntiān hěn máng. | [I] was tired yesterday [and] I’m busy today! |
| Běnlái hěn máng, xiànzài hǎo le. | [I] was busy at first, but now [I]’m okay. |
| Cóngqián wǒ bù shūfu, zuìjìn hái hǎo. | In the past, I wasn’t comfortable, but recently, [I]’m okay. |
Observe that it is the new situation that is associated with le, not the original state! The presence of le generally cancels out the need for a supporting adverb, such as hěn.