HSK 1Time & Place
Time Expressions
Time words go before the verb or at the start of sentence, never at the end.
Pattern
Subject + Time + Verb + Object
Explanation
In Chinese, time expressions always appear before the verb — either after the subject or at the very beginning of the sentence.
This is different from English where time can go at the end ('I eat at eight'). In Chinese: '我八点吃' not '我吃八点'.
Examples
我明天去北京。
Wǒ míngtiān qù Běijīng.
I'm going to Beijing tomorrow.
他每天跑步。
Tā měitiān pǎobù.
He runs every day.
我们下午三点开会。
Wǒmen xiàwǔ sān diǎn kāihuì.
We have a meeting at 3 PM.
Common Mistakes
Wrong
我去北京明天。
Correct
我明天去北京。
Time goes before the verb, not at the end.
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