The Time Expressions in Chinese ：

着 ，了 and  过

     The English language uses different tenses to show when people do, are doing, did or have done something. So the English native speakers often find that the Chinese people pay less attention to time expressions. They claim that the Chinese have no “concept of time”. No, that is a misunderstanding. To be honest, Chinese is not so strict or exact in time as English， with no fixed tenses to show when on earth something is happening，happened or will happen. But if you are careful enough， you can find there are 3 special words that give away “the time”of the occurrences：“着”,“了”and“过”.
    The character“着”is used to show something is happening， just like the present continuous tense .For example: 他正站着/坐着/躺着means “He’s standing/sitting/lying”
    The character“了”means somebody has just finished something, similar to the present perfect. For enample:他睡了means “he has fallen asleep” 他走了.“He has gone”.
    The character “过” is used to express something happened in past,equivallent to the past simple. For example:他在上海住过.means “He used to live in Shanghai”.我当过老师means “I used to be a teacher”.

Exercise: Put the followinh into Chinese by using“着”,“了”and“过”:
    1.He has written a letter.
    2.She used to be a nurse.
    3.They are walking toward school.

Keyword: Chinese, grammar, tenses,