Language/Yue-chinese/Grammar/Past-Tense

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Yue Chinese → Grammar → 0 to A1 Course → Verb Tenses and Aspects → Past Tense

Yue Chinese verb tenses and aspects are not difficult to master but require practice and consistency. In this lesson, we will cover the past tense, which is used to talk about actions that have already happened in the past.

Before we delve deeper into the past tense, let us review the concept of verbs.

Take a moment to explore these relevant pages as you conclude this lesson: Connecting Ideas & Verbs Action and Stative.

Verbs

In Yue Chinese, verbs are actions or states of being that are expressed in phrases or sentences. They can be categorized in three groups: regular verbs, irregular verbs, and auxiliary verbs.

- Regular verbs have a standard conjugation pattern that follows a specific set of rules. - Irregular verbs, on the other hand, do not follow a specific set of rules and need to be memorized. - Auxiliary verbs are verbs that are used together with other verbs to form tenses, moods, or voice.

In the past tense, both regular and irregular verbs follow specific conjugation patterns.

Regular Verbs in Past Tense

In Yue Chinese, regular verbs form their past tense by adding the particle 㗎 to the end of the verb root. Here are some examples:

Yue Chinese	Pronunciation	English
食飯	sik6 faan6	ate rice
睇書	tai2 syu1	read a book
打電話	daa2 din6 waa2	made a phone call

As you can see in the examples above, the verb root remains unchanged, and the only thing that changes is the particle 㗎 added to the end.

Note that some verbs may have more than one syllable in their root form, but that does not affect the conjugation pattern in the past tense.

Irregular Verbs in Past Tense

Irregular verbs, as mentioned earlier, do not follow a specific set of rules and need to be memorized. Here are some of the most common irregular verbs in the past tense with their corresponding conjugation patterns:

Yue Chinese	Pronunciation	English
去	heoi3	went
係	hai6	was
有	jau5	had
話	wa2	said

You must memorize the conjugation patterns for each verb to use them correctly in the past tense. Practice and repetition will make it easier for you to remember them.

Using the Past Tense

Now that we have covered the conjugation patterns for regular and irregular verbs in the past tense, let us look at how to use them in sentences.

To express an action that happened in the past, you need to use the past tense. In Yue Chinese, the past tense is usually used together with time expressions to indicate when the action took place. Here are some examples:

• 我昨天食咗飯。 (ngo5 zo2 tin1 sik6 zo2 faan6) - I ate rice yesterday.
• 佢學識講廣東話咗。 (keoi5 hok6 sik1 gong2 gwong2 dung1 waa2 zo2) - He learned to speak Cantonese.

As you can see in the examples above, the past tense is formed by using the verb in its conjugated form followed by a time expression. In the first example, the time expression is 昨天 (jok3 tin1) which means yesterday, and in the second example, it is the particle 咗 (zo2) which indicates completed action.

When using the past tense to describe a past habitual action or an activity that used to be done regularly, you can use the specific adverb of frequency 常常 (soeng4 soeng4) which means "often". Here is an example:

• 我以前常常去公園。 (ngo5 ji5 cin4 soeng4 soeng4 heoi3 gung1 jyun4) - I used to often go to the park.

Note that in this sentence, the past tense is not followed by a specific time expression but rather a specific adverb of frequency.

It is important to note that Yue Chinese has a specific particle used to express "before" in the past tense. The particle 之前 (zi1 cin4) is placed after the time expression to indicate that an action happened before that specific moment in the past. Here is an example:

• 我四點之前做咗功課。 (ngo5 sei3 dim2 zi1 cin4 zou6 zo2 gung1 fo3) - I did my homework before 4 o'clock.

Conclusion

In this lesson, we learned how to express actions that happened in the past in Yue Chinese. We covered the conjugation patterns for regular and irregular verbs and how to use them in sentences. We also learned how to use the past tense to describe past habitual actions and activities that used to be done regularly, as well as how to use the specific particle for "before" in the past. Remember to practice and use this knowledge as much as possible to master past tense in Yue Chinese.

Having concluded this lesson, consider checking out these related pages: Hello and Goodbye & Pronouns.

Table of Contents - Yue Chinese Course - 0 to A1

• Course Presentation

  ---

Greetings and Introductions

• Basic Greetings
• Introducing Yourself

  ---

Basic Sentence Structure

• Subject-Verb-Object
• Questions and Negations

  ---

Numbers and Time

• Numbers 1-100
• Telling Time

  ---

Pronouns and Possessives

• Personal Pronouns
• Possessive Pronouns

  ---

Family and Relationships

• Family Members
• Relationships

  ---

Adjectives and Adverbs

• Describing People and Things
• Describing Actions

  ---

Food and Dining

• Common Foods
• Eating Out

  ---

Prepositions and Conjunctions

• Location and Direction
• Connecting Ideas

  ---

Travel and Transportation

• Modes of Transportation
• Travel Essentials

  ---

Verb Tenses and Aspects

• Present Tense
• Past Tense

  ---

Yue Chinese Customs and Traditions

• Festivals and Holidays
• Etiquette and Manners

  ---

Shopping and Services

• At the Market
• Public Services

  ---

Comparatives and Superlatives

• Making Comparisons
• Expressing the Best and the Worst

  ---

Yue Chinese Art and Literature

• Traditional Art Forms
• Famous Yue Chinese Literature

Other Lessons

• Making Comparisons
• Conjunctions
• Future Tense
• How to Use Have
• Particles
• How to Use Be
• Location and Direction
• Adverbs
• Pronouns
• Nouns

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