Remembering where to put the time words, such as "yesterday,"
"tomorrow," "this week," etc. in a sentence is really important in order
to speak Chinese correctly. In Chinese you get two equally correct
choices.

Structure
---------

Time words can appear in one of two positions in the sentence in
Chinese: either at the beginning of the sentence (before the subject),
or directly after the subject. The structures are:

<div class="jiegou">
**Time** + Subj. + Verb + Obj.

</div>
<div class="jiegou">
Subj. + **Time** + Verb + Obj.

</div>
So if you start speaking with "time first" English word order, you can
carry on and get away with it. If, however, you're saving the time word
for the *end* of the sentence, you can be pretty sure that it doesn't
sound at all natural to your Chinese audience.

Examples
--------

<div class="liju">
-   <em>昨天</em> <strong>我</strong> 去 了 酒吧 。
    <span class="pinyin"><em>Zuótiān</em> <strong>wǒ</strong> qù le
    jiǔbā.</span><span class="trans">Yesterday I went to the bar.</span>
-   <strong>我</strong> <em>昨天</em> 去 了 酒吧 。
    <span class="pinyin"><strong>Wǒ</strong> <em>zuótiān</em> qù le
    jiǔbā.</span><span class="trans">I went to the bar yesterday.</span>

</div>
<div class="liju">
-   <em>下 个 星期</em> <strong>他</strong> 要 回 国 。
    <span class="pinyin"><em>Xià gè xīngqī</em> <strong>tā</strong> yào
    huí guó.</span><span class="trans">Next week he is going back to his
    country.</span>
-   <strong>他</strong> <em>下 个 星期</em> 要 回 国 。
    <span class="pinyin"><strong>Tā</strong> <em>xià gè xīngqī</em> yào
    huí guó.</span><span class="trans">He is going back to his country
    next week.</span>

</div>
<div class="liju">
-   <em>明年</em> <strong>我</strong> 要 开 一 个 公司 。
    <span class="pinyin"><em>Míngnián</em> <strong>wǒ</strong> yào kāi
    yī gè gōngsī.</span><span class="trans">Next year I want to open a
    company.</span>
-   <strong>我</strong> <em>明年</em> 要 开 一 个 公司 。
    <span class="pinyin"><strong>Wǒ</strong> <em>míngnián</em> yào kāi
    yī gè gōngsī.</span><span class="trans">I want to open a company
    next year.</span>

</div>
<div class="liju">
-   <em>下 个 月</em> <strong>我们</strong> 结婚 吧 ？
    <span class="pinyin"><em>Xià gè yuè</em> <strong>wǒmen</strong>
    jiéhūn ba?</span><span class="trans">Next month shall we get
    married?</span>
-   <strong>我们</strong> <em>下 个 月</em> 结婚 吧 ？
    <span class="pinyin"><strong>Wǒmen</strong> <em>xià gè yuè</em>
    jiéhūn ba?</span><span class="trans">Shall we get married next
    month?</span>

</div>
<div class="liju">
-   <em>现在</em> <strong>你</strong> 能 来 我 办公室 吗 ？
    <span class="pinyin"><em>Xiànzài</em> <strong>nǐ</strong> néng lái
    wǒ bàngōngshì ma?</span><span class="trans">Now you can come to my
    office?</span>
-   <strong>你</strong> <em>现在</em> 能 来 我 办公室 吗 ？
    <span class="pinyin"><strong>Nǐ</strong> <em>xiànzài</em> néng lái
    wǒ bàngōngshì ma?</span><span class="trans">Can you come to my
    office now?</span>

</div>
See also
--------

-   [Word order](Word_order "wikilink")
-   [Using "zai" with verbs](Using_"zai"_with_verbs "wikilink")
-   [Wanting to do something with
    yao](Wanting_to_do_something_with_yao "wikilink")
-   [Expressing completion with
    le](Expressing_completion_with_le "wikilink")

Sources and further reading
---------------------------

### Books

-   [Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second
    Edition](Chinese:_An_Essential_Grammar,_Second_Edition "wikilink") (pp.
    75-7)
    [→buy](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415372615/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0415372615)
-   [Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1
    (3rd ed)](Integrated_Chinese:_Level_1,_Part_1_(3rd_ed) "wikilink") (pp.
    205-6)
    [→buy](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887276385/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0887276385)
-   [40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course
    (基础汉语40课上册）](40_Lessons_for_Basic_Chinese_Course_(基础汉语40课上册） "wikilink") (p.
    98)[→buy](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FTL8D8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001FTL8D8&linkCode=as2&tag=allset-20)

[Category:A2 grammar points](Category:A2_grammar_points "wikilink")