Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar

talkiNG aBoUt dUratioN aNd FreqUeNCy

39.2

他三年没有抽烟。

他三年沒有抽煙。

Tā sān nián méi yǒu chōu yān.

He hasn’t smoked for three years.

39.2 Emphasizing ongoing duration

39.2.1 emphasizing the ongoing duration of an action

To emphasize the ongoing duration of an action without specifying the length of the duration,

follow the verb with the suffix 着/著 zhe. To indicate that an action is ongoing at the moment

of speaking, 在 zài or 正在 zhèngzài may also precede the verb. 呢 ne may occur at the end

of the sentence.

他在说着话呢。

他在說著話呢。

Tā zài shuōzhe huà ne.

He is speaking.

她正在吃着早饭呢。

她正在吃著早飯呢。

Tā zhèngzài chīzhe zǎofàn ne.

She is eating breakfast right now.

在 zài before the verb may also mark duration without the verb suffix 着/著 zhe.

他在说话呢。

他在說話呢。

Tā zài shuō huà ne.

He is speaking.

我们在吃饭呢。

我們在吃飯呢。

Wǒmen zài chī fàn ne.

We are eating right now. (We are right in the middle of eating.)

C13.4, 17.2, 34.2, 34.3

The duration suffix 着/著 zhe is often used with verbs that refer to the placement or location

of an object.

街上站着很多人。

街上站著很多人。

Jiēshàng zhànzhe hěn duō rén.

There are a lot of people standing in the street.

公共汽车上坐着很多人。

公共汽車上坐著很多人。

Gōnggòng qìchē shàng zuòzhe hěn duō rén.

There are a lot of people sitting on the bus.

C34.4

This use of 着/著 zhe is similar to the use of the present progressive verb suffix ‘-ing’ in

English in its focus on ongoing actions. However, 着/著 zhe and ‘-ing’ are not always equivalent.

For example, 着/著 zhe can be used in Mandarin to emphasize the duration of an adjectival

verb. The English equivalent does not typically use ‘-ing.’