2 · Time and place
How long: the length of time after the verb
expressions of duration
A point in time goes before the verb, a length of time after it.
Chinese keeps “when” and “how long” apart. A point in time — 三点, 昨天 — goes before the verb. A length of time — 三个小时, 两年 — goes after it: 我睡了八个小时, “I slept for eight hours”. There is no word for English “for”; the position does the work.
The units are 分钟, 小时, 天, 星期, 月 and 年. 天 and 年 work as measure words themselves, so they follow the number directly: 三天, never with 个. Hours, weeks and months take 个: 三个月 is three months, while 三月 is March.
With an object there are two ways. Either the verb is said twice — 我学汉语学了两年 — or the length of time goes between the verb and the object: 我学了两年汉语. What is not possible is the English order, with the time after the object.
The question is 多长时间 or, shorter, 多久, and it goes where the answer will go: 你等了多久, “how long did you wait?”. English speakers who have just learned that time goes before the verb are the ones who most often put a length of time there too.
The form
| point in time: before the verb | 我八点睡觉。 |
| length of time: after the verb | 我睡了八个小时。 |
| with an object: the verb twice | 我学汉语学了两年。 |
| with an object: the time before it | 我学了两年汉语。 |
| question | 你等了多长时间？ |
| not for a length of time | 他三天没来了。 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
A point in time goes before the verb; a length of time goes after it.
我每天跑半个小时。I run for half an hour every day.
天 and 年 take no measure word; hours, weeks and months take 个.
他在北京住了三个月。He lived in Beijing for three months.
With an object, either say the verb twice or put the length of time between the verb and the object.
她看书看了一个下午。She spent the whole afternoon reading.
Ask with 多长时间 or 多久, in the place where the answer will go.
你来中国多久了？How long have you been in China?
A closer look
Why the two go in different places
The order follows the meaning. A point in time is the background against which something happens, so it is set up first, before the action. A length of time measures the action itself — how long the sleeping or the waiting went on — so it comes after the action, the way a result does.
Several pairs look alike and must be kept apart: 两点 is two o’clock and 两个小时 two hours; 三号 is the third of the month and 三天 three days; 二月 is February and 两个月 two months. The first of each pair goes before the verb, the second after it.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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the sentence is negative: something has not happened for a length of time
the length of time goes before the verb and before the negation.
我三天没看见他了。I haven’t seen him for three days.
There is no action for the time to measure. The length of time now sets the stretch in which nothing happened, so it behaves like a time word.
How to spot it
- 多长时间
- 多久
- 小时
- 分钟
- 天
- 年
Example sentences
我等了二十分钟。I waited for twenty minutes.
我们在海边玩了三天。We spent three days at the seaside.
他打电话打了一个小时。He was on the phone for an hour.
我学了一年中文。I studied Chinese for a year.
从这儿到机场要多长时间？How long does it take from here to the airport?
请等一会儿。Please wait a moment.
7 more example sentences
他每天睡七个小时。He sleeps seven hours a night.
我在上海工作了五年。I worked in Shanghai for five years.
我们休息十分钟吧。Let’s take a ten-minute break.
你学汉语学了多长时间？How long did you study Chinese for?
她哭了很久。She cried for a long time.
我找了半天，还是没找到。I looked for ages and still didn’t find it.
我打算在这儿住一个星期。I plan to stay here for a week.
Worth knowing (1)
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Two months or February
A number directly before 月 names a month: 二月 is February. With 个 it is a length of time: 两个月, two months. 星期 works the same way: 星期二 is Tuesday, 两个星期 two weeks.
我二月去了中国，在那儿住了两个月。I went to China in February and stayed there for two months.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Learners who have just learned that time goes before the verb carry the rule over to every time phrase. But it only holds for points in time. Two hours of television measures the watching, so it follows the verb.
When goes before the verb; how long goes after it.
Your turn
8 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.