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Describing the past: Add 了 le either to the end

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1 Describing the past: Add 了 le either to the end
of the sentence or directly after the action verb: 张老师  前天 去 中国 了。  Zhāng lǎoshī qiántiān qù Zhōngguó le. 张老师 前天 去了 中国。  Zhāng lǎoshī qiántiān qù le Zhōngguó. Teacher Zhang went to China the day before yesterday.

2 zhāng lǎoshi yĭjing qù Zhōngguó le.
Indicating the near past: Use adverbs such as 已经yĭjing (already),刚gāng (just) to indicate the near past: 张老师 已经 去 中国 了。 zhāng lǎoshi yĭjing qù Zhōngguó le. Teacher Zhang has already gone to China.

3 qù nián, tā shì jiāohuàn xuéshēng.
Verbs such as 是 shì (to be), 想 xiǎng (would like; to think), 忙 máng (busy) normally do not take 了 le. 去年, 他 是 交换 学生。  qù nián, tā shì jiāohuàn xuéshēng. Last year, he was an exchange student. 他 昨天 很忙。  tā zuótiān hěn máng. He was very busy yesterday.

4 Negating action verbs- use 没有 méiyǒu
Affirmative 昨天 我 去 伦敦 了。 Zuótiān wŏ qù Lúndūn le. I went to London yesterday. Negative 昨天 我 没(有) 去 伦敦。 Zuótiān wŏ méi(yǒu) qù Lúndūn. I didn’t go to London yesterday.

5 In both of the constructions above, 了 le must be kept in the question.
Alternative ways of asking and answering yes-no questions in the past Instead of using 吗ma, add 没有 méiyǒu to the end of a sentence: 昨天 你 打 太极拳 了 没有? Zuótiān nĭ dă tàijíquán le méiyǒu? Did you practise t’ai chi yesterday? In both of the constructions above, 了 le must be kept in the question.

6 Using the familiar verb + negation word + verb construction
Note, however, that the negation word 没 méi (rather than 不 bù) is used in this context and了 le must not be used: 昨天你打没打太极拳?  Zuótiān nĭ dă méi dă tàijíquán? Did you practise tai chi yesterday?

7 Negating state verbs and adjectives – use不 bù
两年前, 他 不是 老师。  Liǎng nián qián, tā bú shì lǎoshī. lit. Two years ago, he not be teacher. (Two years ago, he wasn’t a teacher) 他 昨天 不忙 。  Tā zuótiān bù máng. lit. He yesterday not busy. (He wasn’t busy yesterday)


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