Language/Mandarin-chinese/Grammar/Future-Tense

Mandarin Chinese Grammar - Future Tense

Hi Mandarin Chinese learners! 😊
In this lesson, we’ll talk about the future tense in Mandarin Chinese. We’ll cover the basics of the future tense, discuss the subtleties of the future tense in Mandarin Chinese, and provide some examples of how to use the future tense in everyday conversation.

Once you've mastered this lesson, take a look at these related pages: Ask how to do something with 怎么 (zěnme) & Particles and Structure Particles.

Understanding the Future Tense in Mandarin Chinese

The future tense in Mandarin Chinese is used to describe actions or events that have not yet occurred. There are several different ways to express future actions in Mandarin Chinese. The simplest way is to use the character "会" (huì), which means "will" or "shall." Let's start with a simple example:

Mandarin Chinese	Pronunciation	English
我们明天会去公园	Wǒmen míngtiān huì qù gōngyuán	-

In the example above, we use the character 会 (huì) to indicate that we will go to the park tomorrow. Note that this is a simple future sentence with no other complexities involved.

As learners progress and become more fluent, they will begin to encounter more advanced ways to express future actions. One of these advanced methods involves using the particle “了” to indicate future events. This use of “了” is not the same as its use to indicate past events. Instead, it adds a sense of certainty to future events. In practice, this means adding “了” to the end of an action in the present tense to create a future tense:

Mandarin Chinese	Pronunciation	English
我要吃饭了	Wǒ yào chīfàn le	-

Here, by adding “了” to the end of the sentence, we are indicating that eating dinner is a certain event that will occur in the near future.

Subtleties of the Future Tense in Mandarin Chinese

Unlike English, Mandarin Chinese does not have separate future tense verb conjugations. Instead, the language uses adverbs, particles, and context to indicate future time. One of the subtleties of the future tense in Mandarin Chinese is that actions or events may be understood as future based solely on context. Here’s an example:

Mandarin Chinese	Pronunciation	English
你明天来吗？	Nǐ míngtiān lái ma?	-

Here, by using the word “明天” (míngtiān), which means “tomorrow,” we can indicate that “来” (lái), meaning “come,” is being used in the future tense. It is important to note that the verb itself does not have a specific future tense form in this context. The tense is implied by context.

Another example of implied context is when discussing scheduled events or appointments:

Mandarin Chinese	Pronunciation	English
我们下个星期五去打高尔夫	Wǒmen xià gè xīngqī wǔ qù dǎ gāo’ěrfū	-

In the example above, by using “下个” (xià gè), which means “next,” this indicates that the event will happen in the future without adding any explicit tense indicators.

Common Future Tense Phrases in Everyday Conversation

To help learners better understand the usage of the future tense in Mandarin Chinese, let’s review a few phrases that are commonly used in everyday conversation:

• 我明年要去中国 (Wǒ míngnián yào qù zhōngguó) - I will go to China next year
• 我下个星期要去旅行 (Wǒ xià gè xīngqī yào qù lǚxíng) - I will go travel next week
• 你这个周末会做什么 (Nǐ zhège zhōumò huì zuò shénme) - What will you do this weekend?

Example Dialogue

Here is an example dialogue to better understand the future tense in context:

• Person 1: 明天你要去哪里？(Míngtiān nǐ yào qù nǎlǐ?) (Where are you going tomorrow?)
• Person 2: 我要去看电影。(Wǒ yào qù kàn diànyǐng.) (I am going to see a movie.)

Conclusion

The future tense in Mandarin Chinese is not as complex as it may seem at first. While the language lacks specific verb conjugations for the future tense, it uses adverbs, particles, and context to indicate future time. With a little practice and study, learners will find that expressing future actions in Mandarin Chinese is straightforward and easy to learn.

➡ If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Sources

• Mandarin Chinese
• Chinese grammar

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