Mandarin Chinese Grammar for Pimsleur Students/Past tense
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Past tense[edit | edit source]
Particles/characters used[edit | edit source]
There are some specific particles, characters or combination of characters used to make sentence past tense:
- 了 - le
- 过 - gùo
- 是 ... 的 - shì ... de
了 le[edit | edit source]
了 is used either after the verb or after the sentence to make it past tense. According to Pimsleur tapes, 了 added directly after the verb is for telling a list of things you did in the past. For a simple statement that you did something, just add 了 after the sentence.
- 我吃午饭了
- 昨天我吃了早饭，吃了午饭，然后我吃晚饭了
过 gùo[edit | edit source]
过 is used to tell that you've had an experience and is added after the verb.
- 我去过北京
- 我来过这儿
是 ... 的 shì ... de[edit | edit source]
This is used to tell or ask something detailed about the past. 是 is added after the subject and 的 at the end of the sentence.
- 你是什么时候去北京的？
- 我是跟我的朋友一起看电影的