Time, place and going
๐ฏ Say when and where โ and meet the word order rule that governs both.
๐ฃ๏ธ Say these out loud
- ๆๅปๅญฆๆ ก โ wว qรน xuรฉxiร o ๐ waw chew shweh-SHYOW I go to school. ๅป qรน = to go. No preposition needed.
- ๆๅคฉๆๅปๅไบฌ โ mรญngtiฤn wว qรน Bฤijฤซng ๐ ming-tyen waw chew bay-JING Tomorrow I go to Beijing. The time word comes first, before the person, or just after. Never at the end as in English.
- ็ฐๅจๅ ็น๏ผโ xiร nzร i jว diวn? ๐ shyen-dzye jee DYEN What time is it now? Answer: ไธ็น sฤn diวn โ three o'clock.
- ๆๅจๅฎถ โ wว zร i jiฤ ๐ waw dzye JYA I am at home. ๅจ zร i = at, in, to be located. One of the ten most common words in Chinese.
- ๅๆๅจๅชๅฟ๏ผโ cรจsuว zร i nวr? ๐ tsuh-swaw dzye NAR Where is the toilet? ๅชๅฟ nวr = where. Learn this one before you travel.
- ๆๆณๅปไธญๅฝ โ wว xiวng qรน Zhลngguรณ ๐ waw shyang chew jong-GWO I want to go to China. ๆณ xiวng + verb = would like to. ไธญๅฝ = 'middle kingdom'.
Read every line aloud twice before moving on. The mouth learns a language, not the eye.
๐ Chinese goes big to small, always
Time and place both run from the largest unit to the smallest โ the opposite of English. Once you notice it, addresses, dates and times all fall into place at once.
- Date: 2026ๅนด9ๆ23ๆฅ โ year, month, day.
- Address: country, city, street, building, flat, name.
- Time in a sentence: ๆๅคฉไธๅไธ็น โ tomorrow, afternoon, three o'clock.
- Sentence order: who + when + where + how + verb. ๆๆๅคฉๅจๅญฆๆ กๅญฆไธญๆ = I tomorrow at school study Chinese.
๐ Among the people
Chinese addresses genuinely are written big to small, and Chinese dates too. It is not a quirk of grammar โ it is a habit of mind that runs through the whole language.
๐ Practise today
- Write today's date the Chinese way.
- Say three sentences with time first: ๆๅคฉๆโฆ, ไปๅคฉๆโฆ, ๆจๅคฉๆโฆ.
- Learn ๅจ zร i properly โ it will appear in a quarter of everything you hear.
