Grammar foundations: time, actions and complements
Use time expressions and aspect markers to distinguish routine, ongoing action, completed events and experience.
Exam scope and assessment notes
This is an original StudyForA starter sequence, not the approximately 130 guided learning hours Cambridge uses as a planning guide. A qualified Mandarin teacher still needs to check every Chinese sentence, character form, vocabulary choice, register and pronunciation cue. The complete 2025–2027 and 2028–2030 vocabulary lists have not yet been reconciled word by word. Browser speech synthesis is variable practice audio, not Cambridge recordings. Speaking rehearsal and written self-checks do not award Cambridge marks; the centre conducts, marks and records Paper 3 and Cambridge moderates it. No full-length timed mock papers are included. All Chinese examples and practice prompts are original StudyForA material, not copied Cambridge assessment content.
Before you begin
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
Which phrase describes an action happening now?
What you will learn
- Part 1 verbs A–K: auxiliaries; future; reduplication; progressive and perfective 了; experiential 过; directional, result and degree complements; postverbs 在/到; verbal measure words
- Use time markers instead of changing verb forms for person
- Link past experience, current action and future intention accurately
Let context and aspect do the work
Mandarin verbs do not conjugate for person. A time phrase often anchors an action: «昨天我去学校» (yesterday I went to school); «明天我会去» (tomorrow I will go). «会», «要» and «应该» express different meanings, such as likelihood, intention or advice.
«正在……呢» or «在……» can describe an action in progress. «了» may mark a completed event or a changed situation; it is not a universal past-tense ending. «过» describes experience, as in «我去过北京» (I have been to Beijing).
Add the outcome, direction or duration
A result complement can show the outcome: «写错了» (wrote incorrectly), «看完了» (finished reading). A directional complement such as «走进来» combines movement and direction. «看一看» often softens an invitation to look.
Duration after a verb and the verbal measure word «次» answer different questions: «住了三天» (stayed three days) versus «去了三次» (went three times). Use «得» before a degree description: «走得很慢» (walks very slowly).
Sources for this lesson
- Cambridge IGCSE Mandarin Chinese Foreign Language 0547 subject page
- 0547 syllabus for exams in 2025–2027
- 0547 syllabus, version 2, for exams in 2028–2030
- 0547 2028–2030 syllabus update
- 0547 vocabulary list for 2028
- 0547 specimen Paper 1 mark scheme for exams from 2028
- Cambridge guidance on simplified and traditional responses
Pause and explain
What does «她把作业写完了» say happened?
Worked example
Compare «他现在在做饭», «他昨天做了饭» and «他做过中国菜». What does each sentence emphasise?
Show the worked solution
- Find the time or aspect marker in each sentence.
- Separate an action in progress from a completed event.
- Read «过» as experience, not a specific date.
Answer The first says he is cooking now; the second says he cooked yesterday; the third says he has cooked Chinese food before. The third sentence does not state when.
From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
Make a three-line account: one activity in progress, one completed yesterday and one thing you have tried before.
Give me a hint
Use «正在», a time phrase plus a completed action, and «过».
Compare my reasoning
- Write the current action.
- Anchor the completed event with «昨天».
- Use «过» for an experience without inventing its date.
Example: «我现在正在看书。昨天我做了晚饭。我以前学过游泳。» The markers distinguish present activity, a dated completed event and past experience.
Look for these in your work
- Uses three distinct time/aspect patterns
- Includes a clear past date
- Does not attach 过 to a stated date automatically
Explain the difference between «我在北京住了三天» and «我去过北京三次».
Give me a hint
One expression measures duration; the other counts visits.
Compare my reasoning
- Identify the duration phrase.
- Identify the occurrence counter.
- Translate the complete meaning, not just the numeral.
The first says I stayed in Beijing for three days. The second says I have visited Beijing three times. «三天» measures time and «三次» counts occasions.
Look for these in your work
- Distinguishes duration from frequency
- Uses the right measure word
- Keeps 过 as experience
A friend asks what happened to a character in a story. Say that they walked into the classroom, finished reading the message and then called the teacher.
Give me a hint
Use a directional complement, a result complement and a sequence connector.
Compare my reasoning
- Show movement into the room with «走进……».
- Show completion with «看完».
- Sequence the phone call with «然后».
Example: «他走进教室，看完了消息，然后给老师打电话。» The directional phrase shows entry, «看完» states the reading was completed, and «然后» sets the order.
Look for these in your work
- Uses a directional complement
- Marks the result of reading
- Keeps the events in order
Common mistakes
- Adding 了 mechanically to every past sentence
- Treating 过 as a specific past-time marker
- Confusing an action's duration with its number of occurrences
What can you explain now?
Which sentence clearly means 'I have visited Shanghai before'?
Compare with the explanation
我去过上海
«过» marks experience; it does not specify when the visit happened.
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Make it stick
Before leaving grammar foundations: time, actions and complements, explain one idea from memory, answer the checkpoint and name one syllabus detail you still need to practise.
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.