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时间状语

RuleTime expressions come before the verb (after the subject or at the start).

Curiosity

English puts the time last: "I get up at 7." Where does Chinese put it?

Intuition

Chinese sets the "when" first, then states the action. Time lays the stage, so it stands before the verb.

Visualization

Reorder the English-like [I][get up][at 7] into Chinese [I][at 7][get up]. The time moves in front of the verb.

English-like (time last)
subject起床verb七点time
Chinese order (time before verb)
subject七点time起床verb

Essence

Time words go before the verb. Place phrases (zai...) usually do too. The basic skeleton is "subject + time + place + verb + object".

Examples

我七点起床。
I get up at seven.
我每天学习汉语。
I study Chinese every day.
他明天去北京。
He goes to Beijing tomorrow.

Mini-quiz

Which has the correct order for "I get up at 7 every day"?

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