The
正在construction
and V+着
Other terminology:
progressive aspect; duration and progression
How do I form
a sentence that implies progressive action?
The following
sentence pattern indicates a progressive action.
|
s |
正 |
在 |
v |
着 |
o |
呢. |
|
wŏ
我 |
zhèng
正 |
zài
在 |
kàn
看 |
zhe
着 |
shū
书 |
ne
呢。 |
|
I |
JUST (NOW) |
IN THE MIDDLE OF |
READ
|
ZHE
|
BOOK |
NE |
I am reading a book.
The sentence
above can be expressed in the following nine ways without changing its meaning.
1.
|
s |
正 |
在 |
v |
|
o |
呢. |
|
wŏ
我 |
zhèng
正 |
zài
在 |
kàn
看 |
|
shū
书 |
ne
呢。 |
|
I |
JUST (NOW) |
IN THE MIDDLE OF |
READ
|
|
BOOK |
NE. |
2.
|
s |
正 |
|
v |
着 |
o |
呢. |
|
wŏ
我 |
zhèng
正 |
|
kàn
看 |
zhe
着 |
shū
书 |
ne
呢。 |
|
I |
JUST (NOW) |
|
READ
|
ZHE
|
BOOK |
NE |
3.
|
s |
|
在 |
v |
着 |
o |
呢. |
|
wŏ
我 |
|
zài
在 |
kàn
看 |
zhe
着 |
shū
书 |
ne
呢。 |
|
I |
|
IN THE MIDDLE OF |
READ
|
ZHE
|
BOOK |
NE. |
4.
|
s |
|
|
v |
着 |
o |
呢. |
|
wŏ
我 |
|
|
kàn
看 |
zhe
着 |
shū
书 |
ne
呢。 |
|
I |
|
|
READ
|
ZHE
|
BOOK |
NE |
5
|
s |
正 |
|
v |
|
o |
呢. |
|
wŏ
我 |
zhèng
正 |
|
kàn
看 |
|
shū
书 |
ne
呢。 |
|
I |
JUST (NOW) |
|
READ
|
|
BOOK |
NE. |
|
s |
正 |
在 |
v |
着 |
o |
|
|
wŏ
我 |
zhèng
正 |
zài
在 |
kàn
看 |
zhe
着 |
shū
书。 |
|
|
I |
JUST (NOW) |
IN THE MIDDLE OF |
READ
|
ZHE
|
BOOK. |
|
7.
|
s |
正 |
|
v |
着 |
o |
|
|
wŏ
我 |
zhèng
正 |
|
kàn
看 |
zhe
着 |
shū
书。 |
|
|
I |
JUST (NOW) |
|
READ
|
ZHE
|
BOOK. |
|
8.
|
s |
|
在 |
v |
|
o |
呢 |
|
wŏ
我 |
|
zài
在 |
kàn
看 |
|
shū
书 |
ne
呢。 |
|
I |
|
IN THE MIDDLE OF |
READ
|
|
BOOK. |
|
9.
|
s |
|
在 |
v |
着 |
o |
|
|
wŏ
我 |
|
zài
在 |
kàn
看 |
zhe
着 |
shū
书。 |
|
|
I |
|
IN THE MIDDLE OF |
READ
|
ZHE
|
BOOK. |
|
Do any of the elements
正,
在,
着 and呢imply
longer or shorter duration?
Duration has
little to do with any difference in the indication of time by正,
在,
着or呢,
but is determined by the action itself. For instance, studying for a university
degree takes longer than watching a film. The functional words of the ‘ongoing’
aspect正
zhèng,
在 zài,
着zhe and
呢ne can apply to both long
and short duration. However,
着 zhe is often omitted when
describing a longer duration, as indicated in the following examples.
|
s |
正 |
在 |
v |
着 |
o |
呢. |
|
wŏ
我 |
zhèng
正 |
zài
在 |
kàn
看 |
zhe
着 |
diànyǐng
电影 |
ne
呢。 |
|
HE |
JUST (NOW) |
IN THE MIDDLE OF |
WATCH |
ZHE
|
FILM |
NE. |
He
is watching a film.
|
s |
正 |
在 |
v |
着 |
o |
呢. |
|
tā
他 |
zhèng
正 |
zài
在 |
niàn
念 |
zhe
着 |
xuéwèi
学位 |
ne
呢。 |
|
HE |
JUST (NOW) |
IN THE MIDDLE OF |
READ
|
ZHE
|
DEGREE |
NE. |
It is more
common to say (without着):
|
s |
正 |
在 |
v |
|
o |
呢. |
|
tā
他 |
zhèng
正 |
zài
在 |
niàn
念 |
|
xuéwèi
学位 |
ne
呢。 |
|
HE |
JUST (NOW) |
IN THE MIDDLE OF |
READ
|
|
DEGREE |
NE. |
He is studying for a degree.
Sometimes
在zài serves both as a
co-verb and as an element of the ‘ongoing’ aspect in a sentence, as in:
|
s |
|
在
+ place |
v |
|
o |
呢. |
|
tā
他 |
|
zài
dàxué
在大学 |
niàn
念 |
|
xuéwèi
学位 |
ne
呢。 |
|
HE |
|
AT UNIVERSITY
IN THE MIDDLE OF |
READ
|
|
DEGREE |
NE. |
He is studying for a degree at
university.
On the other
hand
正zhèng is often used to
describe the ‘heat of the moment’. For example,
|
s |
正 |
|
v |
|
o |
呢. |
|
他 |
正 |
|
炒 |
|
菜 |
呢。 |
|
HE |
JUST (NOW) |
|
STIR-FRY |
|
DISH |
NE. |
He is in the middle of frying a
dish.
Is a co-verb clause always placed
after
正and before a verb?
Yes, co-verbs
such as跟
gēn and
给gěi…
are placed after
正在zhèng zài and before a
verb, as indicated below.
|
s |
正 |
在 |
co-v clause |
v |
着 |
o |
呢. |
|
tā
他 |
zhèng
正 |
zài
在 |
gěi
wŏ
给我 |
zuò
作 |
zhe
着 |
fàn
饭 |
ne
呢。 |
|
HE |
JUST (NOW) |
IN THE MIDDLE OF |
FOR
ME |
COOK
|
ZHE
|
MEAL |
NE. |
He is in the middle of cooking a
meal for me.
Or
|
s |
正 |
|
co-v clause |
v |
着 |
o |
呢. |
|
tā
他 |
zhèng
正 |
|
gěi
wŏ
给我 |
zuò
作 |
zhe
着 |
fàn
饭 |
ne
呢。 |
|
HE |
JUST (NOW) |
|
FOR
ME |
COOK
|
ZHE
|
MEAL |
NE |
Or
|
s |
|
在 |
co-v clause |
v |
着 |
o |
呢. |
|
tā
他 |
|
zài
在 |
gěi
wŏ
给我 |
zuò
作 |
zhe
着 |
fàn
饭 |
ne
呢。 |
|
HE |
|
IN THE MIDDLE OF |
FOR
ME |
COOK
|
ZHE
|
MEAL |
NE. |
Or
|
s |
正 |
在 |
co-v clause |
v |
|
o |
呢. |
|
tā
他 |
zhèng
正 |
zài
在 |
gěi
wŏ
给我 |
zuò
作 |
|
fàn
饭 |
ne
呢。 |
|
HE |
JUST (NOW) |
IN THE MIDDLE OF |
FOR
ME |
COOK
|
|
MEAL |
NE. |
Or
|
s |
正 |
在 |
co-v clause |
v |
着 |
o |
|
|
tā
他 |
zhèng
正 |
zài
在 |
gěi
wŏ
给我 |
zuò
作 |
zhe
着 |
fàn
饭。 |
|
|
HE |
JUST (NOW) |
IN THE MIDDLE OF |
FOR
ME |
COOK
|
ZHE
|
MEAL |
|
Or
|
s |
|
|
co-v clause |
v |
着 |
o |
呢. |
|
tā
他 |
|
|
gěi
wŏ
给我 |
zuò
作 |
zhe
着 |
fàn
饭 |
ne
呢。 |
|
HE |
|
|
FOR
ME |
COOK
|
ZHE
|
MEAL |
NE |
Where should I place an adverbial
地clause in a
正在sentence?
An adverbial
clause is placed after
正在
zhèngzài and
before the verb as shown below.
|
s |
正 |
在 |
adv. clause |
v |
着 |
o |
呢. |
|
tā
他 |
zhèng
正 |
zài
在 |
rènzhēn de
认真
地 |
xiě
写 |
zhe
着 |
zì
字 |
ne
呢。 |
|
HE |
JUST (NOW) |
IN THE MIDDLE OF |
CONSCIENTIOUSLY |
WRITE |
ZHE
|
WORDS |
NE |
Does the particle着have
any other usages?
Yes,
着zhe can be used in the
following two situations.
-
着zhe can be
used to describe how something has been left. For example,
门开着mén
kāizhe the door is open
(the door has been left open);
墙上挂着一张画qiáng
shàng guàzhe yì zhāng huà
a picture is
hanging on the wall
(a picture has been left hanging on the wall) ;
纸上写着三个字zhǐshàng
xiězhe sān ge zì
on the paper are
written three characters
(three characters
have been written on the paper).
-
着zhe can
also be used to describe how two actions are done
simultaneously. However, an action in the
着zhe clause
describes the manner in which another action is carried out. For
example, in
她唱着歌去了学校tā
chàngzhe gē qù xuéxiào
she went to school singing,
唱着歌chàngzhe
gē singing describes
the way that she went to school.
Certain stative verbs, such as
忙máng
to be busy and
急jí
to be anxious, can also be used in
the same way to describe yet another action. For instance, in
我忙着准备考试wŏ
mángzhe zhǔbèi kǎoshì
I am busy preparing for the
examinations, the words
忙着
mángzhe
busy(‘ing’)
describes the manner of preparation for the examinations.
Translate the
following sentences into Chinese.
-
There is a poster hanging on the canteen wall, which says,
“Please sit while you are eating.”
-
I am busy getting ready for her birthday party.
-
He is in a hurry to go to the class.
-
She is in a hurry to go to the toilet.
-
Xiao Wang said with a smile, “I’m saying this just for fun.”
-
It is 11:30 p.m., but the lights in his study are still on. He
is in the middle of preparing for the examinations.
-
I am waiting for him to come out!
-
When I was reading a newspaper in the library yesterday morning,
I saw your best friend running
in there
with his girlfriend, laughing and shouting.
-
He came and asked me with a smile, “Do you know where Xiao Wang
is?”
-
I told him that you were in the middle of a lesson and asked him
to look for you here in the afternoon.