In this lesson you learn how to show that an event is finished, experienced or planned. Chinese does this with time words and a few small markers rather than verb endings. The skill appears whenever a message or short passage tells what someone did and what they will do next.
It belongs to foreign-language reading and writing. The examples are original, with pinyin where it helps.
How do you mark time in Chinese?
Start with the time word, then add the marker if the action needs one.
| Meaning | Time words | Marker | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finished | 昨天, 上个周末 | 了 after the verb | 昨天我看了一部电影。 |
| Experience | 以前, 曾经 | 过 after the verb | 我去过槟城。 |
| Planned | 明天, 下个月 | 要, 打算, 准备 before the verb | 下个月我打算去旅行。 |
| Will happen soon | 马上, 快 | 就要…了 | 考试就要开始了。 |
The negative of a finished action uses 没 and drops 了: 我昨天没看电影 (wǒ zuótiān méi kàn diànyǐng).
A step-by-step method
- Decide the time: finished, experience or plan.
- Put a time word at the start or after the subject.
- Add the marker that matches: 了 or 过 after the verb, 要 or 打算 before it.
- Check the negative: 没 for past, 不 for plans and habits.
Worked example
Original message from an invented student, Hui Min, to her cousin:
上个周末我去了吉隆坡。我和朋友看了一场电影，还吃了很多好吃的。下个月我打算去槟城，我准备坐火车去。你去过槟城吗？
Shàng ge zhōumò wǒ qùle Jílóngpō. Wǒ hé péngyou kànle yì chǎng diànyǐng, hái chīle hěn duō hǎochī de. Xià ge yuè wǒ dǎsuàn qù Bīnchéng, wǒ zhǔnbèi zuò huǒchē qù. Nǐ qùguo Bīnchéng ma?
Past. 上个周末 is a time word and 去了, 看了, 吃了 mark finished actions.
Plan. 下个月 is a time word, and 打算 and 准备 mark plans. No 了 appears because the trip has not happened.
Experience. 去过 asks whether the cousin has ever been, with no exact time.
A plausible mistake
A student writes: 明天我去了图书馆。 The time word 明天 says tomorrow, but 了 says the action is finished. These two signals contradict each other.
The correction: 明天我要去图书馆 or 明天我打算去图书馆. Before you add 了, ask whether the event has already happened. If the answer is no, use 要 or 打算.
Check yourself
1. Add the right marker: 昨天我（ ）作业做完。 Choose 了 or 要.
Show answer
昨天 means yesterday, so use 了: 昨天我做完了作业。
2. Correct the sentence: 下个月我去过新加坡。
Show answer
下个月 is future, and 过 shows past experience. Correct: 下个月我要去新加坡 or 下个月我打算去新加坡。
3. Write one sentence about last Sunday and one about next Sunday, using a time word in each.
Show answer
One model: 上个星期天我去了超市。下个星期天我打算在家复习。 Check each sentence has a time word and a matching marker.
Where this leads next
Join past and planned sentences with the connectors from link simple sentences coherently. Then use the checklist in check a response against the confirmed 0547 task guidance. The practice set mixes all five skills.
If you find your time markers keep slipping in longer writing, online one-to-one Chinese tuition lets a teacher catch the pattern as you write.