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Lesson 16 Noun + verb + noun- Future Tense
We have said that, in Chinese, the
verb does not change to express tense. Instead, we use
structural adverbs to express tense whenever necessary. By
“necessary”, I mean many times it does not have to have such
adverbs if the context is clear enough.
In this class, we introduce a few
adverbs that express future tense and show you how to use them.
In the next few classes, we will explain more tenses using the
structure of “Noun + verb + noun”.
Usually, the adverbs presenting
future tense are put between the subject noun and verb as
following: Noun + adverb + verb + noun
1.
将
jiang1
Adverb.
将
means “will” and is a little formal.
2.
要
yao4
Adverb.
要means
“will”. In many other cases,
要
can also mean “want to” or “plan to”, depending on the
context.
3.
将要
jiang1yao4, adverb.
It is also common for people to put
these two words together to mean future tense. It can avoid the
other meaning the single character
要
may carry as “want to”.
4.
会
hui4
Adverb.
会means
“will”. In many other cases,
会can
also mean “can”, depending on the specific context.
