Time Spent

Learn how to answer “How long?” questions in Chinese by expressing time duration with verbs

Basic Sentence Pattern

In Chinese, Time Spent sentences answer “How long?” questions. The answer is a period of time, e.g. 3 minutes, 4 months, 5 years. Time-When words and Auxiliary Verbs all precede the main Verb.

S + TW/Adverb + AV + V + Time Spent

Sentence Structure Flow

Subject

我们

wǒmen

Auxiliary Verb

要

yào

have to

Main Verb

走

zǒu

walk

Time Duration

二十分钟

èrshí fēnzhōng

20 minutes

Complete Sentence: 我们要走二十分钟。
(We have to walk for 20 minutes.)

Basic Pattern Examples

Structure	Chinese	Pinyin
S + AV + V + Time Spent	我们要走二十分钟。 wǒmen yào zǒu èrshí fēnzhōng.	We have to walk for 20 minutes.
S + TW + AV + V + Time Spent	他今天打算工作十一个小时。 tā jīntiān dǎsuàn gōngzuò shíyī gè xiǎoshí.	He plans to work for 11 hours today.
S + AV + V + Time Spent	我们可以玩五天。 wǒmen kěyǐ wán wǔtiān.	We can play for 5 days.
S + AV + V + Time Spent	大熊猫只能活三十年。 dàxióngmāo zhǐ néng huó sānshí nián.	Pandas can only live for 30 years.

 Common Time Duration Expressions分钟
fēnzhōng
minute(s)
三分钟
3 minutes
小时
xiǎoshí
hour(s)
两小时
2 hours
天
tiān
day(s)
五天
5 days
月
yuè
month(s)
四个月
4 months
年
nián
year(s)
五年
5 years

Sentences with Objects

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Sentence Build Up Process

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Practice Exercises

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Time Spent

1 Basic Sentence Pattern

Sentence Structure Flow

Basic Pattern Examples

Common Time Duration Expressions

2 Sentences with Objects

3 Sentence Build Up Process

Practice Exercises

Basic Sentence Pattern

Sentences with Objects

Sentence Build Up Process