Lesson 22. How to Express Past Tense in Chinese

There is no verb conjugation in Chinese. The form Chinese verb is only one regardless the tense of the sentence. Let’s say, the English ‘go’ can be conjugated as ‘go-went-gone’. In Chinese, the three of ‘go-went-gone’ are all expressed in only one word, 去 (qù). Isn’t that sounds good?

So, how do we differentiate what is the time that the action has occurred? For today, let’s learn how to express past tense in Chinese!

 

Adverb of Time

The first and also the easiest way to talk about past events is using the adverb of time. As long as you put the time in the sentence, then it is completely clear! Below are a few commonly used past time phrases:

Traditional Chinese	Simplified Chinese	Pin Yin	English
三年前	三年前	sān nián qián	three years ago
兩年前	两年前	liǎng nián qián	two years ago
去年	去年	qùnián	last year
三個月前	三個月前	sān gè yuè qián	three months ago
兩個月前	两个月前	liǎng gè yuè qián	two months ago
上個月	上个月	shàng gè yuè	last month
三個星期前/三週前	三个星期前/三周前	sān gè xīngqí qián/sān zhōu qián	three weeks ago / three weeks ago
兩個星期前/兩週前	两个星期前/两周前	liǎng gè xīngqí qián/liǎng zhōu qián	two weeks ago / two weeks ago
上個星期/上週	上个星期/上周	shàng gè xīngqí/shàng zhōu	last week/last week
三天前	三天前	sān tiān qián	three days ago
兩天前	两天前	liǎng tiān qián	two days ago
昨天	昨天	zuótiān	yesterday
昨晚	昨晚	zuó wǎn	last night
剛才/剛剛	刚才/刚刚	gāngcái/gānggāng	just now
以前	以前	yǐqián	before
過去	过去	guòqù	in the past

Examples:

我們兩年前搬過家。

我们两年前搬过家。

Wǒmen liǎng nián qián bānguò jiā.

We moved two years ago.

 

我昨天吃了牛排。

我昨天吃了牛排。

Wǒ zuótiān chīle niúpái.

I ate steak yesterday.

 

她體重減了很多，比以前輕了五公斤。

她体重减了很多，比以前轻了五公斤。

Tā tǐzhòng jiǎnle hěnduō, bǐ yǐqián qīngle wǔ gōngjīn.

She lost a lot of weight and was five kilograms lighter than before.

 

Aspect Particle

We can also add the aspect particle, such as 了 (le) and 過 [过] (guò) to indicate past events.了 (le) is used to indicate the completion of an action. In a similar way, 過 [过] (guò) is used to show that something has happened before.

The above three examples in adverb of time section contained the aspect particles in the sentence. In fact, the aspect articles can be also used with/without the adverb of time. For the usage without the adverb of time, please see the followings:

他去了羅馬尼亞。

他去了罗马尼亚。

Tā qùle luómǎníyǎ.

He went to Romania.

 

我喝了三杯果汁。

我喝了三杯果汁。

Wǒ hēle sān bēi guǒzhī.

I drank three glasses of juice.

 

他們一起做過生意。

他们一起做过生意。

Tāmen yīqǐ zuòguò shēngyì.

They had done business together.

 

她看過你的照片。

她看过你的照片。

Tā kànguò nǐ de zhàopiàn.

She had seen your photo.

 

In addition, they 了 (le) and 過 [过] (guò) can also appear together in one sentence. Example:

我吃過早餐了。

我吃过早餐了。

Wǒ chīguò zǎocānle.

I had a breakfast.

 

他們已經見過面了。

他们已经见过面了。

Tāmen yǐjīng jiànguò miànle.

They had already met.

 

Let’s learn Chinese today! Join us at LingoCards!