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  1. 

  2. <p>Remembering where to put the time words, such as &quot;yesterday,&quot; &quot;tomorrow,&quot; &quot;this week,&quot; etc. in a sentence is really important in order to speak Chinese correctly. In Chinese you get two equally correct choices.</p>
    3. 

  3. <h2 id="structure">Structure</h2>
    4. 

  4. <p>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:</p>
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  5. <div class="jiegou">
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  6. <p><strong>Time</strong> + Subj. + Verb + Obj.</p>
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  7. </div>
    8. 

  8. <div class="jiegou">
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  9. <p>Subj. + <strong>Time</strong> + Verb + Obj.</p>
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  10. </div>
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  11. <p>So if you start speaking with &quot;time first&quot; English word order, you can carry on and get away with it. If, however, you're saving the time word for the <em>end</em> of the sentence, you can be pretty sure that it doesn't sound at all natural to your Chinese audience.</p>
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  12. <h2 id="examples">Examples</h2>
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  13. <div class="liju">
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  14. <ul>
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  15. <li><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></li>
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  16. <li><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></li>
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  17. </ul>
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  18. </div>
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  19. <div class="liju">
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  20. <ul>
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  21. <li><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></li>
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  22. <li><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></li>
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  23. </ul>
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  24. </div>
    25. 

  25. <div class="liju">
    26. 

  26. <ul>
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  27. <li><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></li>
    28. 

  28. <li><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></li>
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  29. </ul>
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  30. </div>
    31. 

  31. <div class="liju">
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  32. <ul>
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  33. <li><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></li>
    34. 

  34. <li><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></li>
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  35. </ul>
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  36. </div>
    37. 

  37. <div class="liju">
    38. 

  38. <ul>
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  39. <li><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></li>
    40. 

  40. <li><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></li>
    41. 

  41. </ul>
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  42. </div>
    43. 

  43. <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
    44. 

  44. <ul>
    45. 

  45. <li><a href="Word_order" title="wikilink">Word order</a></li>
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  46. <li><a href="Using_&quot;zai&quot;_with_verbs" title="wikilink">Using &quot;zai&quot; with verbs</a></li>
    47. 

  47. <li><a href="Wanting_to_do_something_with_yao" title="wikilink">Wanting to do something with yao</a></li>
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  48. <li><a href="Expressing_completion_with_le" title="wikilink">Expressing completion with le</a></li>
    49. 

  49. </ul>
    50. 

  50. <h2 id="sources-and-further-reading">Sources and further reading</h2>
    51. 

  51. <h3 id="books">Books</h3>
    52. 

  52. <ul>
    53. 

  53. <li><a href="Chinese:_An_Essential_Grammar,_Second_Edition" title="wikilink">Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition</a> (pp. 75-7) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415372615/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=allset-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=217145&amp;creative=399369&amp;creativeASIN=0415372615">→buy</a></li>
    54. 

  54. <li><a href="Integrated_Chinese:_Level_1,_Part_1_(3rd_ed)" title="wikilink">Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed)</a> (pp. 205-6) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887276385/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=allset-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=217145&amp;creative=399369&amp;creativeASIN=0887276385">→buy</a></li>
    55. 

  55. <li><a href="40_Lessons_for_Basic_Chinese_Course_(基础汉语40课上册）" title="wikilink">40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (基础汉语40课上册）</a> (p. 98)<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FTL8D8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B001FTL8D8&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=allset-20">→buy</a></li>
    56. 

  56. </ul>
    57. 

  57. <p>         </p>
    58. 

  58. <p><a href="Category:A2_grammar_points" title="wikilink">Category:A2 grammar points</a></p>
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