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Grammar Notes for lesson 13

Time measures

A time measure quantifies duration or length of time. A time measure is placed after the verb in an affirmative sentence, as in 我 学 汉 语 学 了 两 个 月 了  wǒ xué hànyǔ xué le liǎng ge yuè le I have been learning Chinese for two months. 了 le at the end of the sentence marks a stage in a progressing action.
When describing a future action the time measure is placed after the verb, as in 明 年 我 要 在 北 京 学 习 三 个 月 汉 语 míngnián wǒ yào zài Běijīng  xuéxí sān ge yuè hànyǔ I will study three weeks of Chinese in Beijing next spring.
The following three sentence patterns for I learnt Chinese for three years are all acceptable.

1.

s

v

o

v      (了) tm

我  wǒ

学 xué

汉 语 hànyǔ

学  了   三 年 xué le sān nián

2.

s

o

v     (了) tm

我 wǒ

汉 语   hànyǔ

学 了   三 年 xué le sān nián

3.

s

v      (了) tm       的

o

我 wǒ

学 了   三 年    的 xué le sān nián de

汉 语 hànyǔ

A time measure is placed near the beginning of a negative sentence, as in 我 三 年 没 看 见 她 了 wǒ sān nián  méi kànjiàn tā le I haven’t seen her for three years. The 了 le at the end of the sentence marks a stage in a continuing situation.