Teacher’s Guide: 一直

Common errors

1. Incorrect position

1.1 Learners might place the negation adverb before 一直.

*我没一直看到他们。
我一直没看到他们。

*我沒一直看到他們。
我一直沒看到他們。

*弟弟不一直来。
弟弟一直不来。

*弟弟不一直來。
弟弟一直不來。

1.2 Learners might mistakenly place 一直 before the subject.

*一直他们在办公室工作。
他们一直在办公室工作。

*一直他們在辦公室工作。
他們一直在辦公室工作。

1.3 Learners might place 一直 after the aspect marker 在.

*我在一直等你。
我一直在等你。

2. Uncertainty about when to use the progressive aspect marker 在

When 一直 is used to express continuous action over time, it is usually used with the progressive aspect marker 在. Without 在 to emphasise the action is unfolding, the sentences might sound incomplete.

我一直等你。
我一直在等你。

However, when一直 is used to indicate emotional or mental states that have lasted over time, the progressive aspect marker 在 is not needed. But learners might mistakenly include it.

*我一直在喜欢喝茶。
我一直喜欢喝茶。

*我一直在喜歡喝茶。
我一直喜歡喝茶。

*我一直在很累。
我一直很累。

3. Using 一直 with actions that cannot continue over time

一直 is used with actions or states that can continue, however, learners might mistakenly use 一直 with actions that cannot logically continue over time.

*我一直去学校。

*我一直去學校。

I always go to school.

去 indicates a single act of going. It does not express a continuous action, so 一直 is semantically incompatible here. Instead, you can say e.g.:

我一直在学校。

我一直在學校。

I have been at school all along.

If the verb does not naturally express duration, use a state verb or an auxiliary verb like 想.

我一直想去学校。

我一直想去學校。

I have always wanted to go to school.

4. Confusing 一直 with other adverbs relating to time or repetition

Both 总是/總是 and 一直 translates as ‘always’ but have different connotations and learners might have troubles deciding when to use一直. 一直 indicates ‘always’ in the sense of continuously without stopping.

我一直在喝咖啡。

I have been drinking coffee.

一直 indicates the action has continued nonstop from a certain point in time and up to now.

总是/總是 indicates ‘always’ in the sense of habitual or routinely. 一直 cannot be used in this sense.

我总是喝咖啡。

我總是喝咖啡。

I always drink coffee.

总是/總是 indicates that it is a habit to drink coffee.

Apart from 总是/總是, learners might also confuse 一直 with other adverbs relating to time or repetition like 常常, 再, and 刚/剛, but they have different meanings: 一直 expresses continuous or uninterrupted action, 总是 and 常常 describe how frequently something happens, 再 indicates doing something again or later, and 刚 refers to actions that happened just a moment ago. Learners might be confused and unsure when to use and when not to use 一直.

Learning tip

Use a visual timeline to show adverb relationships with time

Ask the students to anchor sentences to time frames to test adverb meaning:

Give a time phrase and ask which adverb fits, e.g.:

From morning until now: use 一直

Every weekend: use 总是/總是 or 常常

Just a moment ago: use 刚/剛

Do it again after lunch: use 再

5. Confusing habitual frequency with temporal continuity

Learners might confuse habitual frequency with temporal continuity and mistakenly use 一直 for habitual actions, thereby creating syntactically correct, but odd sounding sentences.

*我早上一直喝茶。

I always drink tea in the morning.

一直 is used for ongoing or uninterrupted action, not for daily routines or habits. Alternative, sentences could be:

我每天早上喝茶。

I drink tea every morning.

今天早上我一直在喝茶。

This morning, I was drinking tea the whole time.

L1 inference error

Learners often use an ‘imitative’ approach, applying sentence structures from their native language directly to Chinese. This can result in errors, such as placing 一直 after the verb or adjective predicate.

*我在等你一直。
我一直在等你。

*小李很忙一直。
小李一直很忙。