How does Chinese work if it doesn't have tenses?

Find how to improve your spoken Chinese using the 'Building Blocks Method': www.fluentinmandarin.com/conte...

[@eundongpark1672]

I really like the way you translate your example sentences literally. I think language teachers should always give both literal and semantic translations of example sentences to students at lower levels. We need to get a feeling for how native speakers navigate or build the message, how the expression "feels".

[@aaronj007crc9]

謝謝你!!, very clear explanation, as a spanish native speaker, I know how hard this can be.

[@FluentinMandarinDotCom]

You're welcome Aaron!

[@guagua7572]

1actually，if you say 我去了to somebody，it means I will go to someplace .kind like byebey(I am gonno left),if you say 我去了（someplaces）or 我去过了，means I went to someplaces before 2another things is that we sarcely use 打算 ，we usually use 想（want）or just omit it (cuz through this is a kind of interrogative sentences,we can infer that this thing haven't happen yet. ) 3and 是。。。。的 is used to emphasize something between them，you can just use 的 to express the things already happened，for example 你昨天什么时候到的？or我坐飞机来的。it is the structure verb + 的 express the tense，but I think limited verb can be used in this structure. 4我到家以后吃饭了，kind of wired，and I don't know how to fix it....... *5!!!!!and 我遇到了她以后，this sentence is wrong,cuz 了 and 以后 express the same meaning ，when we study correcting sentences,we called it repetitive wrong.you can say 我遇到她以后or 我遇到她了（this 了 is just for smoothing the tone)以后（the latter one only used in speaking，and when you write it ,it is wrong.） conclusion，context is very very important in chinese,we always infer the tenses.kind of like you ask a chinese, are you married ?,they may say my daughter is already three years old.that kind of things. and all the things I said is spoken Chinese and great video!

[@guagua7572]

about 5, i consider again, and 我遇到了她以后，it is right when you speak it，also the 了 is just for smoothing the tone，doesn't have any meanings.but I recommend beginner not use that kind of express,cuz it will confuse you and sometimes it is wrong.

[@seanspartan2023]

谢谢您! 你是很好老师

[@annieshah1186]

Thanks a lot Chris!! You made it so easy!!

[@LunaticTheCat]

Thanks for these videos man, I really appreciate it. A good teacher can make something that seemed impossible a reality.

[@FluentinMandarinDotCom]

Thanks for the kind comment Rick. Glad you've benefited from these videos!

[@ramonbernardo1732]

This is very helpful ! Lovely explanation. Well done Chris.

[@FluentinMandarinDotCom]

Glad you liked it Ramon!

[@ELA33520]

wow, this is soooo very helpful! Thanks a lot

[@juliaavanoordt]

Thanks again Chris, great video!

[@FluentinMandarinDotCom]

You're welcome :-)

[@slamdunk406]

Excellent job. 👍

[@kantnergirl08]

非常好的视频啊

[@kooo6250]

Thank you for your teaching.It's so useful for my learning .谢谢老师

[@FluentinMandarinDotCom]

You're welcome!

[@AnnaKristynaSion]

Thank you for a great video!

[@FluentinMandarinDotCom]

You're welcome Anna!

[@SS-bc6wx]

This video is in a very detailed form. It was really helpful. Thanks.

[@FluentinMandarinDotCom]

You're welcome!

[@subhadraregmi8896]

Thank you so much it helped a lot to me 💞

[@augustaj3952]

Thank you☆

[@hmkwong5833]

Out of all the KZbin videos on Chinese grammar and tenses that I have watched, this one is the absolute best. I have saved this video and intend to go through it everyday until I've mastered it. Thank-you very much for the explanations as well as the very good examples.

[@FluentinMandarinDotCom]

Wow, thanks Helene for your kind words!

[@24pro53]

As a chinese, i would say that the final part of the video like“我昨天没有看见他了” is used. However, it indicates that 我之前都有看到他 but this situation changed yesterday.

[@Xinalong]

Wonderful, as always =)

[@FluentinMandarinDotCom]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@awofadeju1]

Another great video as always. Keep it up Chris!

[@FluentinMandarinDotCom]

Thanks Jim!

[@chiao1996]

I am a mainland Chinese, and I like your pronunciation both Chinese and English. Your pronunciation of Mandarin is better than mine 😂, maybe because I grow up in the South where dialects differ from Putonghua. In my hometown, our pronunciation is more close to the Japanese', I got this since I can use Japanese' way to count as we say in daily life. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. い、え、さん、す、う、りゅう、ち、ば、じゅう

[@welldonehuang9133]

thank you

[@aiesyajoo]

I learn a lot TQ

[@shoaibqureshi1794]

非常非常好

[@chengyanslc]

“我去年在大学教书了” would hint a state change. 我昨天看见他了 vs 我昨天没有看见他：this reminds that in Finnish, for direct object, one often use accusative case for a positive statement, but use partitive case for a negative statement.

[@samyeoski]

1:30 Yes! 1:35 "at the beginning stage"... oh

[@miguel8571]

This is gold

[@hninset8896]

Thanks

[@FluentinMandarinDotCom]

You're welcome

[@Jeroeny]

Hey! Thank you for the video. I have 2 questions though. I don't get it why the word 在 is used so frequently. For instance in 1 of your sentences: 我一直在看书。In my understanding it means to be (at, in, on etc). They second one is your sentence 我打算三点去看你，好吗？Why is the time part after 打算? I always thought it should be at the beginning of the sentence. 谢谢

[@FluentinMandarinDotCom]

You're welcome! 1) 在 also means 'currently doing something' or 'in the process of doing', as well as relating to location. 2) I think it's because the 三点 relates to the 去看你, so the time does still come before the action that you are doing at that time, even though 打算 is the first verb in the sentence.

[@amyfedun492]

Both 我打算3点去看你 & 我3点打算去看你 are fine; even 3点我打算去看你 is ok - a little awkward but acceptable

[@zachfox7771]

I SAW him, I didn’t SEE him. Same

[@crystalliu3851]

Zach Fox 狐智 Yep.Clever

[@NadalChina]

super

[@karinavisan6090]

Love it! very useful

[@FluentinMandarinDotCom]

Glad you like the video!

[@harryshi6147]

我明白了，外国人学习中文的困难在于中文的语法没有很严格和那么容易套公式，视频做得非常不错。

[@KEUNGWHITETIGER]

I THINK THAT CHINESE DOES NOT HAVE ANY CONJUGATION, SO IT IS EASY SUCH AS, IN ENGLISH: GO, WENT, GONE IN CHINESE:去

[@dobklyznskovik6705]

Hey Chris, great vid, but one thing you didn't cover was the conditional tense. For example, "I 'would' go to the park, but I'm very busy today".

[@FluentinMandarinDotCom]

That's a good point, and this 'tense' also doesn't really exist separately in Chinese, it's just implied by the context

[@owlblocksdavid4955]

Chinese actually does have tense. It just doesn't mark it on conjugations, but uses particles. Tense is ways of communicating the time an action happens at (different from aspect, such as whether something is done, or mood, such as the previously mentioned conditional).

[@wgarlt1659]

Yes, do not add tenses, but Chris, you are also doing it! "Wo zuotian dao de" does not mean "I arrived yesterday", it means "I am one who arrived yesterday", a form of self-definition, which is used INSTEAD of using a tense in a communication situation when in Western languages you would use a tense-centric sentence. We "Westerners" concentrate on our individual action, "I arrived", in Chinese you concentrate on to which (virtual) group your action made you belong to "I am one of those kind of people who arrived yesterday".

[@keezytv7854]

FORSURE got my sub. This was helpful as fuck

[@NMalteC]

Still pretty complicated. Try Vietnamese! Past: đã, present continuous: đang, future: sẽ All verbs et al unchanged.

[@FluentinMandarinDotCom]

Well, I could also explain Chinese in terms of a couple of characters, but the reality often is that it's a little bit more complicated than that.

[@KEUNGWHITETIGER]

WHEN I LEARN ENGLISH, I FEEL THE WRITING OF ENGLISH IS SO DIFFICULT. I CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF PHONICS AND I CANNOT REMEMBER THE SPELLING OF ENGLISH WORDS. I CANNOT KNOW THE MEANING OF ENGLISH WORDS WHICH THEY ARE ORIGINALLY GREEK OR LATIN. THE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH ARE ALSO DIFFICULT. IT CONTAINS A LOT OF CONJUGATION SUCH AS TENSE. I FEEL IT IS SO TROUBLE 當我學英語,我發現英文書寫很困難,我無法理解英語拼音,我無法記得英文字的拼寫,我無法知道英文字當中那些來自希臘文或拉丁文的意思,我也感到英文文法很麻煩,有太多CONJUGATION,例如時態

[@lutchbizin6420]

Yes, very interesting. The sentence 没有共产党就没有新中国 (No have communist party then no have new China), for instance, can be rendered in English by 'If there's no communist party, then there is or there will be no new China'; 'If there was no communist party, then there would be no new China'; 'If there had been no communist party, then there would have been no new China'.

[@FluentinMandarinDotCom]

Interesting choice of example sentence, but yes!

[@andyliu7922]

very interesting indeed

[@nekozombie]

我愛貓和狗 uwu

[@jerrywang51]

Have you ever been living in China？ I was shocked by your accent as if it was a Chinese youtuber that making this content

[@KEUNGWHITETIGER]

WHEN I LEARN ENGLISH, I FEEL THE WRITING OF ENGLISH IS SO DIFFICULT. I CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF PHONICS AND I CANNOT REMEMBER THE SPELLING OF ENGLISH WORDS. I CANNOT KNOW THE MEANING OF ENGLISH WORDS WHICH THEY ARE ORIGINALLY GREEK OR LATIN. THE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH ARE ALSO DIFFICULT. IT CONTAINS A LOT OF CONJUGATION SUCH AS TENSE. I FEEL IT IS SO TROUBLE

[@KEUNGWHITETIGER]

當我學英語,我發現英文書寫很困難,我無法理解英語拼音,我無法記得英文字的拼寫,我無法知道英文字當中那些來自希臘文或拉丁文的意思,我也感到英文文法很麻煩,有太多CONJUGATION,例如時態

[@musical_lolu4811]

"How does Chinese work if it doesn't have tenses?" I don't like the general tenor of this question. Very typical of anglocentric thinking, almost like insinuating the language is defective in some way because it doesn't have a feature yours has.

[@redneckscumbags4422]

you just say "now 3 o'clock" in chinese. No pronoun needed like in english.

[@LighthouseLanguage]