▎Time-Duration ‘for a period of time’ (3)

 

Function Time-Duration expressions indicate the length of time, i.e., ‘how long’, an action takes.

1 我要去花蓮玩一個星期。

Wǒ yào qù Huālián wán yí ge xīngqí.

I’ll be in Hualien for a week.

2 這個電影很有意思，可是要看三個鐘頭。

Zhè ge diànyǐng hěn yǒu yìsi, kěshì yào kàn sān ge zhōngtóu.

This movie is interesting, but you have to watch it for three hours.

3 中文，我只能學一年半。

Zhōngwén, wǒ zhǐ néng xué yì nián bàn.

I can only study Chinese for one and a half years.

 

Structures

(1) Duration expressions follow the verb directly, i.e, subject＋verb＋duration.

1 我去日本旅行了一個多星期。

Wǒ qù Rìběn lǚxíngle yí ge duō xīngqí.

I went to Japan to travel for a little over a week.

2 這麼多甜點，我們要吃一個星期。

Zhème duō tiándiǎn, wǒmen yào chī yí ge xīngqí.

So many desserts! It’ll take us a week to eat (it all).

3 我想坐高鐵去臺南玩兩天。

Wǒ xiǎng zuò gāotiě qù Táinán wán liǎng tiān.

I would like to take the HSR and kick around in Tainan for two days.

4 中文課，我們學校要上四年。

Zhōngwén kè, wǒmen xuéxiào yào shàng sì nián.

We need to take Chinese classes for four years at our school.

(2) If the verb has an object following it, you must repeat the verb, before saying a time-duration phrase.

1 他打算教中文教一年。

Tā dǎsuàn jiāo Zhōngwén jiāo yì nián.

He wants to teach Chinese for a year.

2 我每個星期學書法學兩天。

Wǒ měi ge xīngqí xué shūfǎ xué liǎng tiān.

I study calligraphy two days every week.

3 今年我想在臺灣學中文學九個月。

Jīnnián wǒ xiǎng zài Táiwān xué Zhōngwén xué jiǔ ge yuè.

This year, I would like to study Chinese in Taiwan for nine months.

(3) Time-Duration is placed in front of negation.

1 他太忙了，所以他兩天不能來上課。

Tā tài máng le, suǒyǐ tā liǎng tiān bù néng lái shàngkè.

He was too busy, so he did not come to class for two days.

2 這裡沒有網路，所以我兩個星期不能上網。

Zhèlǐ méi yǒu wǎnglù, suǒyǐ wǒ liǎng ge xīngqí bù néng shàngwǎng.

There is no internet here, so I can’t go online for two weeks.

3 她要回美國，所以一個月不能上課。

Tā yào huí Měiguó, suǒyǐ yí ge yuè bù néng shàngkè.

She is returning to the US, so she will not be coming to class for a month.

(4) When a separable verb takes Time-Duration, the time expression is inserted into the separable verb, either with or without 的.

1 我每星期上五天的課。

Wǒ měi xīngqí shàng wǔ tiān de kè.

I have classes five days a week.

2 學校下個月放三天的假。

Xuéxiào xià ge yuè fàng sān tiān de jià.

Our school has three- days off next month.

3 我們打算明天去KTV唱三個鐘頭的歌。

Wǒmen dǎsuàn míngtiān qù KTV chàng sān ge zhōngtóu de gē.

We plan to go to KTV tomorrow to sing for three hours.

4 你決定在台灣學多久的中文？

Nǐ juédìng zài Táiwān xué duō jiǔ de Zhōngwén?

How long did you decide to study Chinese in Taiwan?