Add to Chrome

Chinese grammar

verb (+ 了) + duration (for how long)

For … (how long … lasts)

A length of time after the verb says how long the action lasts: 学习两个小时 “study for two hours”.

In stories

  1. 八月一日，在军队工作的人可以休息半天。

    “八一”是什么日子？ · What is August 1 in China? Army Day explained HSK 1

  2. 在中国坐了四个小时飞机，你还在中国！

    中国有多大？ · How big is China? HSK 1

  3. 你们说了十分钟。

    怎么点菜？ · How to order food in a Chinese restaurant HSK 1

  4. 现在我会说了：我十一月去北京，在北京住一个月。

    一月还是一个月？ · How to say months and years in Chinese HSK 1

Read “八一”是什么日子？

What does verb (+ 了) + duration (for how long) mean in Chinese?

For … (how long … lasts). A length of time after the verb says how long the action lasts: 学习两个小时 “study for two hours”.

How common is verb (+ 了) + duration (for how long)?

It comes up in 148 readings of the 392 stories and articles in our free Library.

Does it correct my mistakes?

No. It shows which patterns a text uses and what each one does; it doesn’t mark errors. Paste a sentence you wrote to see whether it uses the pattern you meant.

More free tools

Patterns found by our own parser; lines from our free Library.