Does Chinese Have Tenses? How Time Works in Mandarin

No, Chinese does not have tenses. A Mandarin verb never changes its form: 去 (qù, “go”) stays 去 whether you went yesterday, go today or will go tomorrow. Instead, Mandarin shows time in two ways. Time words such as 昨天 (zuótiān, yesterday) say when. Small markers such as 了, 過 and 在 say how the action stands: finished, experienced before, or in progress. Linguists call the second kind aspect, and for learners it is the real counterpart to English tense.

The Short Version

English idea	How Mandarin shows it	Example
When	Time word, usually before the verb	我昨天去台北。(wǒ zuótiān qù Táiběi)
Finished action	了 after the verb	我買了一本書。(wǒ mǎi le yì běn shū)
Have done it before	過 after the verb	我去過台北。(wǒ qù guò Táiběi)
In progress	在 or 正在 before the verb	我在吃飯。(wǒ zài chīfàn)
Ongoing state	著 after the verb	門開著。(mén kāi zhe)
Future	Time word, or 會 / 要 before the verb	我明天要去台北。(wǒ míngtiān yào qù Táiběi)

Time Words Do Most of the Work

If you say when something happened, you do not need to mark it on the verb. 我昨天去台北 (wǒ zuótiān qù Táiběi) means “I went to Taipei yesterday”, with nothing added to 去. The same sentence with 明天 (míngtiān, tomorrow) means “I am going to Taipei tomorrow”.

Time words usually come right after the subject or at the start of the sentence, before the verb. Common ones:

• 現在 (xiànzài), now
• 剛剛 (gānggāng), just now
• 以前 (yǐqián), before, in the past
• 以後 (yǐhòu), later, after
• 昨天 (zuótiān), 今天 (jīntiān), 明天 (míngtiān)
• 上個月 (shàng ge yuè), last month; 下個月 (xià ge yuè), next month

The patterns for before, after, when and while are set out in Chinese time expressions.

Aspect Markers

了: Completed Action or New Situation

了 after a verb marks an action as completed: 我買了一本書 (wǒ mǎi le yì běn shū, “I bought a book”). At the end of a sentence it often marks a change: 我吃飯了 (wǒ chīfàn le, “I’ve eaten”, with the sense that the situation has changed). It is not a past tense marker. You can use it for the future too: 明天我吃了飯就去 (míngtiān wǒ chī le fàn jiù qù, “tomorrow I’ll go after I’ve eaten”). The 了 page goes through the patterns in detail.

Two points that trip up learners:

• 了 is not needed for every past event. 我昨天很累 (wǒ zuótiān hěn lèi, “I was tired yesterday”) has no 了, since being tired is a state and not a completed action.
• To negate a completed action, use 沒 or 沒有 and drop 了: 我昨天沒去 (wǒ zuótiān méi qù, “I didn’t go yesterday”).

過: Done at Least Once

過 (guò) after the verb says you have had the experience: 我去過台北 (wǒ qù guò Táiběi, “I have been to Taipei”). It stresses that the experience happened; when is left open. The difference between 過 and 了 is covered in 過 vs 了. Its negative is 沒去過 (méi qù guò, “have never been”).

在 and 正在: In Progress

在 or 正在 before a verb makes it ongoing: 他在吃飯 (tā zài chīfàn, “he is eating”), 他正在開會 (tā zhèngzài kāihuì, “he is in a meeting right now”). With a time word it can also place the action in the past: 昨天我打電話給他的時候，他在吃飯 (zuótiān wǒ dǎ diànhuà gěi tā de shíhòu, tā zài chīfàn, “when I called him yesterday, he was eating”). See 在, 正在 and 著 for more.

著: A State That Continues

著 (zhe) after the verb describes a state that continues: 門開著 (mén kāi zhe, “the door is open”), 他穿著一件藍色的外套 (tā chuān zhe yí jiàn lánsè de wàitào, “he is wearing a blue coat”).

All of these are covered at TOCFL Band A level in Band A grammar: aspect markers.

Future and Intention

Mandarin has no future tense either. Often a time word is enough: 我下個月去台南 (wǒ xià ge yuè qù Táinán, “I’m going to Tainan next month”). To show intention or prediction, use 要 (yào, want to, will) or 會 (huì, will, would): 我明天要去 (wǒ míngtiān yào qù), 明天會下雨 (míngtiān huì xiàyǔ, “it will rain tomorrow”). These are modal verbs, so they sit before the main verb and do not alter it.

Already, Ever, Just: Words That Frame Time

Some adverbs make the timing clearer, and they often go along with aspect markers:

• 已經 (yǐjīng), already: 我已經吃了 (wǒ yǐjīng chī le)。
• 曾經 (céngjīng), once, at some point in the past: 我曾經住過台中 (wǒ céngjīng zhù guò Táizhōng)。
• 還沒 (hái méi), not yet: 我還沒吃 (wǒ hái méi chī)。
• 剛 (gāng), just: 他剛走 (tā gāng zǒu)。

Taiwan’s 有 + Verb

In Taiwan you will often hear 有 plus a verb used for a past event, often in questions and answers that use 有: 你昨天有去嗎？ (nǐ zuótiān yǒu qù ma, “did you go yesterday?”), 我有去 (wǒ yǒu qù, “I did go”). The negative is the standard 沒有: 我沒有去 (wǒ méiyǒu qù). The pattern affirms that something did happen, and in speech it also appears in plain statements such as 我有跟他說 (wǒ yǒu gēn tā shuō, “I did tell him”).

This 有 pattern is colloquial. It is common in everyday speech in Taiwan, and you should be able to understand it, but textbooks teach the 了 and 過 patterns, and in writing it is safer to use those. If you are talking with Taiwanese friends or family, using 有 plus a verb in casual speech will not sound wrong. Other Mandarin-speaking regions may treat it differently, so when in doubt, 了 is the version everyone accepts.

Why Learners Find This Confusing

English speakers look for a past form and try to map 了 onto it. That leads to two common errors: adding 了 to every past sentence, and leaving it out when a completed action really needs it. A better question is “was this action completed, or is it a state?” The beginner’s overview at Chinese grammar for beginners gives the word-order basics that this sits on.

Practice

Take any sentence and ask three questions:

1. When? Choose a time word.
2. Is the action finished, experienced or ongoing? Choose 了, 過 or 在.
3. Is it a state? Then probably no marker.

Try it: say what you did yesterday, what you have done in Taiwan or at work before, and what you are doing now, using one of the six patterns above each time.

Related Reading

• Chinese Time Expressions: before, after, when and while.
• 過 vs 了: experience against completion.
• 在, 正在 and 著: progressive and continuing states.
• The 了 Particle: the full set of patterns.