Mr Wang (王) and Ms Shang (尚) are co-workers and happen to meet in the hallway.

Listen and circle the one you hear

• 1) yin – yan, ban – bian, bin – bing, ying – yang,
• 2) pin – pen, pian – pan, mian – mang, jin – jian,
• 3) xing – xiang, qiang – chang, xing – xin, jiao – qiao,
• 4) xia – xie, qi – qie, qia – qiao, tie – tiao,

Listen and add the correct tone marks

• 1) jin tian, ming tian, shang wu
• 2) gen wo yi qi, ting yin yue
• 3) shen me shi hou, jintian xia wu
• 4) wan shang jian, Shang hai

Grammar Patterns

Time when

When expressing the time at which an action will take place, the time information must precede the verb. Consider these two examples, which demonstrate that the time information may come before or after the subject, as long as it precedes the verb.

• Wǒ míngtiān qù xuéxiào
• Jīntiān wǒ hěn lèi

Time words may follow a modal verb, but they must precede the main verb. The choice of order depends on emphasis. Just like in English, to emphasize something, it is placed earlier in the sentence

Word order

When describing a point in time, the more general time words must precede the more specific words. For example “this morning” is jīntiān zǎoshang – and not the other way around, because “today” is more general than “morning”.

Examples

• Jīntiān xiàwǔ wǒ qù xué xiào.
• Nǐ míngtiān wǎnshang xiǎng chī jiǎozi.
• Tā yào zuótiān zǎoshang qù Shanghai.

Chinese uses this logical approach, of word order determined by general before specific, for more than just describing time. For example, t is also used for describing dates and locations. This is a very satisfying pattern of expression and will not take you long to get used to.