Chinese is very different from European languages like English in many ways. One of the most striking differences is that while English makes extensive use of tenses to indicate when an action takes place, Chinese does not have true tenses in the same way. This leads many people to claim that Chinese has no tenses at all. However, the truth is more complex and interesting. In this article, we will explore how Chinese indicates time and temporality without morphologically inflected tenses.
Does Chinese Have Tenses?
Many people will simply say that Chinese does not have tenses. This is an oversimplification. Chinese does have ways to indicate when an action takes place, similar to how tenses work in English. However, Chinese does this without inflecting verbs. Instead, Chinese uses words like temporal adverbs, auxiliaries, and aspect markers.
For example, in English you would say “I ate dinner” to indicate a past event versus “I eat dinner” to indicate a habitual action. Chinese does not inflect “eat” to distinguish these. Instead, Chinese would say something like “Yesterday I eat dinner” or “Every day I eat dinner.”
So while Chinese does not have tenses in the strict grammatical sense that English does, it does have the ability to situate actions in time. It is just that Chinese does this in a very different way from English and other European languages.
Two Perspectives on Chinese Tense
There are generally two perspectives on how to describe tense and time in Chinese:
1. Chinese has no tenses
This view holds that Chinese simply does not have grammatical categories like past, present, and future tense. There are no inflections or conjugations of verbs that allow for distinguishing time frames. Instead, Chinese relies on context, temporal adverbials, and aspect markers.
From this perspective, it is inaccurate to say Chinese has tenses at all. Chinese temporality works so differently from Indo-European tense systems that the analogy does not hold up. Chinese has no grammatical tense, only lexical and contextual ways to indicate time.
2. Chinese has tense, just not in the same way as English
The opposing view is that Chinese does have tenses, just not in the same morphologically inflected way that English does. This view holds that elements like temporal adverbials and aspect markers still serve the same purpose of situating actions in time, and therefore constitute a type of tense system.
From this perspective, Chinese has its own equally valid way of indicating tense, even if it looks very different from English. The meaning and function are similar enough to make analogies between Chinese tense and English tense.
Overall, the debate is largely semantic and centers on how narrowly or broadly to define grammatical tense categories.
Time and Aspect in Chinese
Rather than focusing on whether Chinese fits the definition of “tense”, it is more useful to look at how Chinese indicates time and aspect. Here are some of the key ways Chinese situates actions temporally and aspectually:
Temporal adverbials
Words and phrases that specify a time frame, like “yesterday” or “last year” or “in the future”. For example:
我昨天去图书馆 (Wo zuotian qu tushuguan) – I went to the library yesterday
明年我会去中国 (Mingnian wo hui qu Zhongguo) – Next year I will go to China
Aspect particles
Particles that indicate the completeness or current state of an action, like “le”, “guo”, “zai”, “zhe”. For example:
我做过饭 (Wo zuo guo fan) – I have cooked (before)
我在做饭 (Wo zai zuo fan) – I am cooking
Context and pragmatics
Relying on the larger context and conversational pragmatics to situate actions in time. For example:
昨天风很大,树都倒了。今天修理。(Zuotian feng hen da, shu dou dao le. Jinatian xiuli.) – Yesterday the wind was strong and blew down the trees. Today we will fix them.
No Verb Conjugation in Chinese
A key point is that Chinese does not use verb conjugation to indicate tense and time. Verbs do not morphologically inflect based on when the action takes place. For example:
英文: I eat, I ate, I have eaten, I will eat
汉语: 我吃 (wo chi)
The verb “eat” has only one form chi in Chinese, unlike English where it takes different inflected forms like “eat”, “ate”, “eaten” to indicate different tenses.
This highlights how Chinese handles temporality through lexical means like adverbials rather than through morphosyntax.
Time Expressions in Chinese
While Chinese does not inflect verbs, it does have a wide range of words and expressions that can clarify when an action takes place or its current state. Here are some of the most common:
| Temporal expression | Example | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| 昨天 | 我昨天去学校 | Yesterday I went to school |
| 以前 | 我们以前在一起工作 | We worked together before |
| 现在 | 我现在很忙 | I am very busy now |
| 明天 | 我们明天再讨论 | We will discuss it tomorrow |
| 已经 | 我已经吃过午饭了 | I have already eaten lunch |
| 会 | 我们会见面 | We will meet |
| 正在 | 他正在打电话 | He is making a phone call |
These and many other time words and phrases contextualize actions and convey information about tense and aspect without any verb inflection.
Aspect Particles in Chinese
Chinese aspect particles are another important way Chinese indicates temporality. Here are some key ones:
-了 (-le)
The particle 了 (-le) indicates a change or new situation. It conveys that an action is complete or that a new state has been entered. For example:
我吃了早饭 – I have eaten breakfast
天黑了 – The sky darkened
It is one of the most common and important particles for situating actions in time in Chinese.
-过 (-guo)
The particle 过 (-guo) indicates an experience in the past. It is used for actions that have been completed at least once before.
我去过中国 – I have been to China (before)
他吃过法餐 – He has eaten French food
-着 (-zhe)
This particle indicates an action is ongoing and continuing. It conveys the current state of an action.
他在写着文章 – He is writing an article
我等着你 – I’m waiting for you
-了 (-le) vs. -过 (-guo)
These two particles can often be translated to English as the same tense, but they indicate slightly different temporal information:
– 了 (-le) conveys new information, a recent change, an action that was just completed
– 过 (-guo) conveys previous experience, an action completed further in the past
For example:
我吃了早饭 (I ate breakfast) – I just finished eating breakfast recently
我吃过早饭 (I’ve eaten breakfast before) – I’ve had the experience of eating breakfast sometime further in the past
No Copula Verb in Chinese
Chinese also does not have an inflected copula verb meaning “to be” like English does. Instead of saying “I am” or “you are”, Chinese simply states “I” or “you” and relies on context. For example:
我忙 – I (am) busy
你开心 – You (are) happy
This further demonstrates how Chinese handles tense and aspect differently from English by not inflecting verbs for temporality.
Using Context for Time Reference
Because Chinese does not inflect verbs, context becomes very important for conveying information about time. Looking at the larger discourse or conversation is key. Time frame is often conveyed through pragmatics rather than explicit grammatical markers.
For example:
我们看电影,很晚了,吃饭。- We watched a movie. It got very late. (We) ate dinner.
Here the time sequence is clear based on context without any verb inflection. The first action is past, the second describes the resulting state, and the third action follows after in sequence.
Conclusion
Chinese does express temporal information and aspect, but does so very differently from English and other European languages. Rather than inflecting verbs, Chinese relies on temporal adverbials, aspect particles, context, and pragmatics.
While you could analyze Chinese as having a tense system, it is so unlike European-style tense that many argue Chinese has no grammatical tense at all. Regardless of analysis, Chinese has lexically and contextually rich ways to situate actions in time without morphological changes to verbs. The time and aspect system is equally sophisticated and effective despite its differences.