1. Time expression: A: Asking and telling the time: a) Asking for the time: 现 在 几 点 (了 )? Xiànzài jĭdiăn (le)? What time is it now? 几 点 (了 )? Jǐdiăn (le)? What time is it? 你 的 表 几 点 (了 )? Nĭde biăo jĭdiăn (le)? What time is it by your watch? b) Reading of the clock time: 8:00 八 点 bādiăn 9:08 九 点 ( 零 )八 分 jiŭdiăn (lìng)bāfén 10:15 十 点 十 五 分 shìdiăn shìwŭfēn 十 点 一 刻 shìdiăn yìkè 11:30 十 一 点 三 十 分 shìyīdiăn sānshìfēn 十 一 点 半 shìyīdiăn bàn 12:45 十 二 点 四 十 五 shírdiăn sìshìwǔ 十 二 点 三 刻 shírdiăn sánkè 差 一 刻 一 点 chāyìkèyìdiăn 4:18pm 下 午 四 点 十 八 分 xiàwǔsìdiăn shíbāfēn 7:46am 上 午 七 点 四 十 六 分 shàngwǔqīdiăn sìshíliùfēn before 5:30 五 点 半 以 前 wŭdiăn bàn yĭqián after 9:18 九 点 十 八 分 以 後 jiŭdiăn shìbāfēn yĭhòu 5 or 6 o’clock 五 六 点 wǔliùdiăn B: Time expression as the attributive: A time word or phrase can serve as an attributive modifying a noun or noun phrase in a sentence. When a time or phrase modifies a noun or noun phrase, the format is ‘time word +的 + noun’. Note that the position of the time is BEFORE the modified noun. Now, let’s look at some examples: 1) 下 午 的 电 影 xiàwǔde diànyĭng afternoon movie 2) 九 点 五 十 分 的 课 jiŭdiăn wŭshìfēn de kè a nine fifty class 3) 以 前 的 老 师 yĭqián de lăoshi the previous teacher 4) 几 点 的 课 jĭdiăn de kè a class of what time 5) 这 位 老 师 教 上 午 的 课 。 Zhèwèi lăoshi jiāo shàngwǔ de kè This teacher teaches morning class. 6)你 喜 欢 看 几 点 的 电 影 ? Nǐxĭhuān kàn jĭdiăn de diànyĭng? You like to watch movies of what time? C. Time expressions as the adverbial adjuncts: A time expression can function as an adverbial adjunct, modifying a verb and describing the time when the action takes place. When a time expression serves as an adverbial adjunct, it is usually placed before the verb it modifies. The format is: Subject + Time Expression + (Negation) + Verb + (Object) + ( Question Particle 吗 ) 我 + 上 午 +(不) + 去 + (商 店 ) + ( 吗 ) Some examples: 7) 你 几 点 去 上 课 ? Nǐ jǐ diǎn qù shàng kè ? At what time will you go to attend the class? 8) 她 妈 妈 下 午 三 点 在 家 。 Tā mā mā xià wǔ sān diǎn zài jiā . Her mom is at home at three o’clock in the afternoon. 9) 台 湾 留 学 生 八 点 坐 车 从 我 们 学 院 去 加 州 。 Táiwān liúxuésheng bādiăn zuòchē cóng wŏmen xuéyuàn qù Jiāzhōu. At eight the exchange students from Taiwan will take bus from here to California. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Pivotal construction: Consider this sentence: 10) 她 男 朋 友 请 她 看 电 影 。 Tā nán péng yǒu qǐng tā kàn diàn yǐng . Her boyfriend invited her to see the movie. In this sentence, the underlined 她 is known grammatically as a “pivot”, and is the object of the first verb 请 , and the subject to the second verb 看 .The second half of the sentence 她 看 电 影 is termed a “pivotal construction”, and carries out the action intended by the sentence subject, in this case, 她 男 朋 友。 There is a handful of verbs in the Chinese language, which can be used in pivotal constructions. Among them, we so far have learned 欢 迎 ( to welcome), 叫 (to ask ), 请 (to invite) and 有 (to have). For example: 11) 欢 迎 你 来 我 们 学 院 学 习 。 Nǐ jǐ diǎn qù shàng kè ? Huān yíng nǐ lái wǒ men xué yuàn xué xí . We welcome you to come to our college to study. 12) 她 叫 我 下 午 去 医 院 。 Tā jiào wǒ xià wǔ qù yī yuàn . She asked me to go the hospital in the afternoon. 13) 小 丁 有 一 个 哥 哥 在加 州 。 Xiǎo Dīng yǒu yī gè gē gē zài jiā zhōu . Ding has an older brother (who is) in California. Note that when verb 有 has a pivotal construction, the pivot is quantified with a number-measure. 14) 谢 老 师 有 一 个 女 儿 是 大 学 生 。 Xiè lǎo shī yǒu yī gè nǚ er shì dà xué shēng . Teacher Xie has a daughter, (who) is a university student. The summery of pivotal construction: Subject +Verb + Pivot + Verb 我 + 请 + 他 + 来 3. Verbs in series: In a Chinese sentence, sometimes a series of verbs can be strung together. For instance: 15) 我 们 开 车 去 看 电 影 。 Wǒ men kāi chē qù kàn diàn yǐng . We drove to see the movie. In a case like this, the first verb usually describes the manner, fashion or means in which the action expressed by the second verb is conducted, while the following verb indicates the goal. 16) 你 们 用 什 么 笔 写 字 ? Nǐ men yòng shén me bǐ xiě zì ? What pen are you going to use to write the characters?