1. A Summary of the Aspect Particles 正(在)， 着， (就/快)要...了，了， 过. (1.) The progressive aspect of an action using 正(在). The progressive aspect is used to indicate an action that is in progress. When used with approriate time words, the aspect particle 正(在) can indicate the past, the present or the future progressive aspect of an action. For example: 1.)今天上午国华给学友打电话的时候，学友正在复习中文呢。 This morning when Guohua called Xueyou, Xueyou was reviewing Chinese. 2.)王老师正在给小丁辅导语法呢。 我等一下儿再问他问题。 Teacher Wang is tutoring Xiaoding on her grammar. I will wait for a while to ask him questions. 3.)如果你明天九点去林老师那儿， 他一定正在改作业呢。 If you go to Teacher Lin's place at 9:00 tomorrow, he will certainly be correcting homework. 4.)现在美国的大学生们正在放暑假。 他们劳工节(la2ogo1ngjie2, Labor Day) 以後开学。 Now American college students are having summer break. They will start school after Labor Day. (2.) The continuous aspect of action using 着. The continuous aspect is used to indicate the continuation of an action or the result of an action. When used with approriate time words, the aspect particle 着 can indicate the past, the present or the future continuous aspect of an action. For example: 1.)昨天我去小丁那儿的时候，她正听着中国民歌呢。 Yesterday when I went to Xiaoding's place, she was listening to Chinese folk songs. 2.)小丁的宿舍很干净。 墙上挂着她的爸爸、妈妈的照片。 Xiaoding's dorm is very clean. On the wall there hangs her mom and dad's picture. 3.)圣诞节的早上，孩子们的床边会放着圣诞老人(she4ngda4nla3ore2n, Santa Claus)送给他们的礼物。 In the morning on Christmas Day, children's bedside will be placed with gifts that Santa Claus gives them. 4.)小丁的妈妈看着小丁从北京寄来的照片，高兴地笑了。 Xiaoding's mom, looking at the pictures Xiaoding sent from Beijing, smiled happily. (3.) The impending aspect of action using (就/快)要...了... The impending aspect is used to indicate that an action is going to take place soon. The structure (就/快)要...了... is used to express the impending aspect of action. For example: 1.)小丁的爸爸、妈妈就要来北京看她了。 Xiaoding's mom and dad are coming to Beijing to see her (soon). 2.)快要期末考试了。 世海复习中文复习得很认真。 The final is coming up. Shihai is reviewing Chinese very carefully. 3.)就要下雨了。 我们明天再去颐和园玩儿吧。 It is going to rain. Let's go to the Summer Palace tomorrow. 4.)飞机就要到北京了。 小丁和学友都很兴奋。 The plane is about to arrive in Beijing. Xiaoding and Xueyou are both very excited. (4.) The perfect aspect of action using 了. The perfect aspect is used to indicate the realization or completion of an action. When used with approriate time words, the aspect particle 了 can indicate the past, the present or the future perfect aspect of an action. For example: 1.)小丁和学友上个星期天跟林老师一起去长城玩儿了。 Xiaoding and Xueyou went to the Great Wall with Teacher Lin last Sunday. 2.)明天这个时候， 我妈妈的飞机已经到肯尼迪(ke3nni2di2, Kennedy)机场了。 Tomorrow at this time, my mom's plane will have arrived at JFK Airport. 3.)来中国以前， 人美修了好几门中文课。 Before coming to China, Renmei had taken many Chinese courses. 4.)昨天我们给爸爸、妈妈寄了信和照片。 Yesterday we sent a letter and pictures to mom and dad. (5.) The past experience using 过. The aspect particle 过 is used to indicate the past experience of an action. For sentences using the aspect particle 过, if the speaker would like to indicate that the event referred to has already taken place and is relevant to the present situation, the modal particle 了 (not the aspect particle 了)can be added at the end of the sentences. For example: 1.)昨天小丁和学友已经考过试了。 Yesterday Xiaoding and Xueyou had taken the exam. 2.)学友上星期去过医院体检了。 Xueyou went to the hospital and had a physical exam last week. 3.)小丁的爸爸、妈妈都来过中国。 Xiaoding's dad and mom both have been to China. 4.)晓芳在外资企业工作过。 Xiaofang has had the experience of working in a foreign invested company. 2. A Summary of the Structural Particles 的，地，得. (1.) 的 is usually used together with adjectives/pronouns/nouns as an attributive modifier. The pattern is: ADJ/PRON/N + 的 + N For example: 1.)张国华和王晓芳都是北京大学的学生。 Zhang Guohua and Wang Xiaofang are both students of Beijing University. 2.)上海是一个非常现代化的城市。 Shanghai is a very modernized city. 3.)学友和小丁很喜欢他们的口语老师。 Xueyou and Xiaoding like their speaking class' teacher very much. (2.) 地 is usually used together with adjective as an aderbial modifier. The pattern is: ADJ + 地 + V For example: 1.)小丁高兴地告诉林老师， 这个周末她和学友跟他们的中国朋友一起去天坛。 Xiaoding told Teacher Lin happily, this weekend, she and Xueyou would go to the Temple of Heaven with their Chinese friends. 2.)为了更好地了解美国的文化， 国华想去美国留学。 In order to understand the American culture better, Guohua would like to go to the U.S. to study. 3.)课堂上， 同学们都专心地听讲， 认真地作笔记。 In class, all students listen to the teacher attentively and take notes carefully. (3.) 得 is used together with adjective as complements of degree. The pattern is: V + 得 + ADJ For examples: 1.)小丁说中文说得很标准。 Xiaoding speaks Chinese in a standard accent. 2.)学友开车开得很快。 Xueyou drives very fast. 3.)李大夫看病看得很认真。 Dr. Li sees patients very conscientiously. 3. A Summary of the Adverbials 又，再， 还. The meaning for 又，再， 还 is "again". However, the usage of the three adverbials are different. (1.) 又 is used to indicate the repetition of an action that has already taken place. When used in a negative sentence, 又 is used to indicate the repetition of the non-occurence of an action. Sometimes, 又 can also be used to indicate the repetition of an action that has not yet taken place. In this kind of situation, however, the action involved is expected to take place according to people's past experience or natural law. For example: 1.)今天上午我给我的女朋友打了一个电话。 下午，我又给她打了一个电话。 I called my girlfriend this morning. In the afternoon, I called her again. 2.)他得了流行性感冒。 昨天他没来上课。 今天， 他又没来。 He got the flu. Yesterday, he didn't come to class. Today, he didn't come again. 3.)明天又是晴天。 我们一起去郊游(jia1oyo2u, go on an excursion/outing)吧。 Tomorrow will be a fine day again. Let's go on an excursion or an outing together. (2.) 再 is used to indicate the repetition of an action that will take place in the future. When used in a negative sentence, 再 is used to indicate the repetition of the non-occurence of an action that will not take place in the future. 再 is also used to indicate an action that will take place after a certain point or period of time. For example: 1.)长城真是很壮观。 我们还想再去一次。 The Great Wall is really magnificent. We would like to go there again. 2.)昨天我已经给爸爸、妈妈打过电话了。 今天我不再打了。 Yesterday I already called my mom and dad. I am not calling them today. 3.)这个美国留学生先在北京语言文化大学学习中文， 然後再去北京大学学习中国 历史。 This American student studied Chinese in Beijing Language and Culture University first, then he went to Beijing University to study Chinese history. (3.) 还 is used to emphasize the repetition of an action that will take place in the future. 还 is often used together with optative words such as 想， 要， 应该 etc. in this case. 还 also means "besides, in addition to" or "still, (is) yet to". For example: 1.)这个饭馆真不错。 我明天还想来。 This restaurant is great. I want to come again tomorrow. 2.)雨还没有停呢。 你们再坐一会儿吧。 The rain has not yet stopped. Please stay/sit for a while. 3.)国华认识很多外国留学生， 有日本人， 韩国人， 法国人， 还有美国人。 Guohua knows many foreign students, there are Japanese, Koreans, French, as well as Americans. 4. The Structure 要(想)...就应该... The structure 要(想)...就应该... means "if (somebody would like to do sth.), he/she should (do sth. first). It is a conditional structure in which the speaker states the goal after 要(想), and indicates the condition(s) for realizing the goal after 就应该. The basic pattern is: Subject + 要(想)+ Goal, 就应该 + Condition(s) For example: 1.)要真正了解一个国家的语言和文化， 就应该去那个国家学习和生活一段时间。 If you want to truely understand the language and culture of a country, you should go to study and live in that country for a period of time. 2.)要想学好中文， 就应该多跟中国人交流(jia1oliu2, to communicate with)。 If you want to study Chinese well, you should communicate with Chinese people more often. 3.)要想身体健康， 就应该多锻练身体。 If you want to keep healthy, you should do more exercises.
