在, 正在 and 著: Ongoing Actions in Chinese

Put 在 or 正在 before a verb to say the action is happening now: 他在吃飯 (he is eating), 他正在吃飯 (he is eating right now). Put 著 (zhe) after a verb to describe a state that goes on: 門開著 (the door is open). The first pair is progressive, the second is durative. They look like one topic because English covers both with “-ing”, and Chinese splits them.

This guide sorts the three, shows where learners go wrong, and notes what you will actually hear in Taiwan. For the bigger picture of how Mandarin marks time, see does Chinese have tenses?. For 了 and 過, which cover completion and experience, see the aspect markers guide.

The short version

	Where	What it says	Example
在	Before the verb	Action in progress	我在看書。 I’m reading.
正在	Before the verb	In progress, at this very moment	我正在開會。 I’m in a meeting right now.
著	After the verb	A state or manner continues	門開著。 The door is open.

在: the everyday progressive

在 (zài) before a verb says the action is under way. The sentence needs no other marker.

• 他在吃飯。 (Tā zài chīfàn.) He is eating.
• 你在做什麼？ (Nǐ zài zuò shénme?) What are you doing?
• 孩子們在公園玩。 (Háizimen zài gōngyuán wán.) The children are playing in the park.
• 我在等朋友。 (Wǒ zài děng péngyǒu.) I’m waiting for a friend.

In casual Taiwan speech you will hear the question 你在幹嘛？ (nǐ zài gànmá?) for “what are you up to?” The MOE lists the word as 幹麼 (gàn má); 幹嘛 is the everyday written form. It is colloquial and is the usual question between friends. 你在做什麼？ is safe anywhere.

在 can also mean “at”

The same character is the preposition “at”. Compare:

• 他在吃飯。 He is eating. (progressive)
• 他在家吃飯。 (Tā zài jiā chīfàn.) He eats at home, or he is eating at home. (place)

With a place word after 在, context decides whether the sentence is a habit or a moment in progress. Adding a time word makes it clear: 他現在在家吃飯 (he is eating at home now).

Negating 在: 沒(有)在

To say someone is not in the middle of doing something, use 沒 or 沒有 before 在.

• 我沒在看電視。 (Wǒ méi zài kàn diànshì.) I’m not watching TV.
• 他沒有在工作。 (Tā méi yǒu zài gōngzuò.) He isn’t working.

Do not use 不 in front of a progressive 在. 不在 on its own means “is not at (a place)”: 他不在家 (Tā bú zài jiā), “he is not at home”.

正在: this exact moment

正在 (zhèngzài) is 在 with the clock pointed at now. It suits an interruption, an excuse or a contrast.

• 我正在開會，晚點打給你。 (Wǒ zhèngzài kāihuì, wǎndiǎn dǎ gěi nǐ.) I’m in a meeting right now; I’ll call you later.
• 他正在洗澡。 (Tā zhèngzài xǐzǎo.) He’s in the shower right now.
• 外面正在下雨。 (Wàimiàn zhèngzài xià yǔ.) It’s raining out there right now.

Most of the time the difference from 在 is small. Both express “now”. 正在 is a little more careful and a little more emphatic, and it reads well in writing. In Taiwan speech, plain 在 is more common: 他在開會 does the same job as 他正在開會.

著: a state that continues

著 (zhe) goes after the verb and describes a condition or manner that persists. Many verbs of posture and position take it.

• 門開著。 (Mén kāi zhe.) The door is open.
• 牆上掛著一幅畫。 (Qiáng shàng guà zhe yì fú huà.) A painting hangs on the wall.
• 他坐著看書。 (Tā zuò zhe kàn shū.) He reads sitting down.
• 她笑著說：「沒問題。」 (Tā xiào zhe shuō: “Méi wèntí.”) She said with a smile, “No problem.”
• 我手上拿著一把傘。 (Wǒ shǒu shàng ná zhe yì bǎ sǎn.) I’m holding an umbrella.

Two uses cover most of what you will meet. One is a resulting state (門開著, 燈亮著). The other is a manner that accompanies a second verb (坐著看書, 笑著說).

Putting 在 and 著 together

They can share a sentence when you want both the action in progress and the manner: 他一直看著窗外 (Tā yìzhí kàn zhe chuāngwài), “he kept looking out the window”. 他在看窗外 (he is looking out the window) is the plain progressive.

Where 著 is read differently

Same character, other readings. In 睡著 (shuì zháo, “fall asleep”) the MOE dictionary gives zháo, and the result is completion: 他很快就睡著了. As a noun, 穿著 (“attire”) is chuān zhuó in the MOE dictionary; in 他穿著外套 (Tā chuān zhe wàitào), “he is wearing a coat”, it is the ordinary marker, chuān zhe. In 著急 (zhāo jí, “anxious”) it is zhāo. As the aspect marker for a continuing state, 著 is the neutral-tone zhe. The wider habit is to check any unfamiliar word with 著 in a dictionary rather than assume zhe.

Common errors

• Using 在 with a state verb: ✗ 我在知道答案。 and ✗ 他正在是老師。 are ungrammatical. Verbs such as 知道, 是, 喜歡 and 有 describe states, and a state is not “in progress”. Use them bare: 我知道答案, 他是老師.
• Using 著 as the plain progressive. 我吃著飯 does not simply mean “I am eating”; it needs a companion, as in 他吃著飯看電視 (he watches TV while eating). For the bare idea, say 我在吃飯.
• Using 不 for progressive negation. ✗ 他不在看書 sounds wrong to most speakers. Say 他沒在看書 (“he isn’t reading right now”), or 他不是在看書 to contrast, as in 他不是在看書，是在睡覺 (he isn’t reading, he’s sleeping).
• Using 了 as a progressive: 他吃飯了 means “he has eaten”, and does not mean “he is eating”.

A Taiwan note: 在 for “these days”

在 also covers a stretch of time, not just one instant. 最近我在學台語 (Zuìjìn wǒ zài xué Táiyǔ) is natural for “I’ve been learning Taiwanese lately”, though no one is studying at the moment of speaking. It works the same way as English “I’m learning to cook” and is common in everyday talk. By contrast, 我正在學 tends to be heard as “right now”.

Practice

Choose 在, 正在 or 著.

1. 他___睡覺，請小聲一點。 (He is sleeping, please be quiet.)
2. 窗戶開___，所以很冷。 (The window is open, so it’s cold.)
3. 你___看什麼？ (What are you watching?)
4. 我___開會，不方便講電話。 (I’m in a meeting, I can’t talk.)

Answers: 1. 在 or 正在 2. 著 3. 在 4. 正在 (在 works too)

Related reading

• Does Chinese Have Tenses?: how aspect and context stand in for tense.
• TOCFL Band A Grammar: Aspect Markers: 了, 過 and the markers tested at Band A.
• 過 vs 了: the other half of the aspect picture.
• 了 particle: completion and change of state.