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plCommon errors
1. Syntactic error
Especially in more complex sentences, learners may struggle to place ‘在’ correctly. These are some of the most common syntactical errors.
1.1 Incorrect position
In a sentence that includes a prepositional phrase, learners might stick to the rule of the basic structure and place ‘在‘ directly before the verb instead of before the prepositional phrase.
*我给你在做饭。/ *我給你在做飯。
我在给你做饭。/ 我在給你做飯。
1.2 Incorrect position
Learners might place the negation directly before the verb.
*我在没洗澡。/ *我在沒洗澡。
我没在洗澡。/ 我沒在洗澡。
1.3 Misuse
Learners might mistakenly use a ‘double 在‘ when combining the progressive aspect with a location, not realizing that ‘在’ should only be used once.
你在做什么? / 你在做什麼?
*我在在超市买东西。/ *我在在超市買東西。
我在超市买东西。/ 我在超市買東西。
1.4 Omission
Learners might mistakenly omit ‘在‘ when using the progressive aspect with the time word ‘现在/現在‘ .
你在做什么运动? / 你在做什麼運動?
*我现在跑步。/ *我現在跑步。
我现在在跑步。/ 我現在在跑步。
1.5 Misuse
When combining with the modal particle ‘呢’, learners might incorrectly position ‘呢’ in the middle of a sentence or use ‘呢’ together with together with ‘吗/嗎’. These errors would result in awkward or ungrammatical sentences.
A: 你们在写什么？/ 你們在寫什麼？
* B: 我的同学在写汉字呢, 我在写短信呢。/ 我的同學在寫漢字呢, 我在寫短信呢。
B: 我的同学在写汉字, 我在写短信呢。/ 我的同學在寫漢字, 我在寫短信呢。
* A：你在做饭呢吗? / 你在做飯呢嗎?
A：你在做饭吗? / 你在做飯嗎?
B：是，我在做饭(呢)。/ 是，我在做飯(呢)。
2. Semantic error
Unlike in English, where tense is used to indicate the timing of an action, Chinese uses aspect markers like ‘在’ to indicate the nature of an action. If learners do not understand this distinction, it might lead to errors when using the progressive aspect marker.
Learners might e.g. use the progressive aspect markers with an unsuitable predicate. The progressive aspect marker should be used with actions that are ongoing, dynamic, and have a certain duration. It is important to avoid using it with stative verbs, verbs that indicate actions without duration or actions that are naturally completed quickly.
2.1 Stative verbs and adjectives
Stative verbs and adjectives describe states or conditions rather than actions and should not be used with the progressive aspect marker ‘在’. Learners may mistakenly use ‘在’ with stative verbs or adjectives, when they want to express that someone or something is currently in a specific state or is continuously experiencing a particular emotion or feeling. However, this is incorrect because ‘在’ should only be used with dynamic verbs that indicate ongoing actions.
*他在是老师。/ *他在是老師。
他是老师。/ 他是老師。
*我在喜欢吃饺子。/ *我在喜歡吃餃子。
我喜欢吃饺子。/ 我喜歡吃餃子。
*我在饿。/ *我在餓。
我饿。/ 我餓。
2.2 Actions that have no duration
Some actions are inherently instantaneous or very brief, making them unsuitable for the progressive aspect, e.g. 来/來, 去, 到, 毕业/畢業, 死 or 离开/離開.
*她在毕业。/ *她在畢業。
她毕业。/ 她畢業。
*我们在离开学校。/ *我們在離開學校。
我们离开学校。/ 我們離開學校。
3. Pragmatic error or inappropriate usage
3.1 Learners might use the progressive aspect to describe habitual or routine actions.
This can sound unnatural or overly emphatic and is better expressed without the aspect marker.
*每天下午他都在打球。/ *每天下午他都在打球。
每天下午他都打球。/ 每天下午他都打球。
3.2 In non-urgent contexts,overusing the progressive aspect may come across as overly dramatic or imply urgency where none exists.
你在做什么？/ 你在做什麼？
你做什么？/ 你做什麼？
3.3 Overusing the progressive aspect when narrating events might disrupt the flow of the narrative.
昨天你在做饭的时候，我在上网。/ 昨天你在做飯的時候，我在上網。
昨天你在做饭的时候，我上网。/ 昨天你在做飯的時候，我上網。
昨天你做饭的时候，我在上网。/ 昨天你做飯的時候，我在上網。
昨天你做饭的时候，我上网。/ 昨天你做飯的時候，我上網。
4. Errors caused by native transfer
Due to similarities between the Chinese progressive aspect and the English present continuous, learners may overgeneralise and misuse ‘在‘ with cognitive verbs, instantaneous actions, or habitual actions.
E.g. in a context where you want to say that so far you ‘are liking’ something, learners might mistakenly use the progressive aspect.
*我在喜欢这本书。/ *我在喜歡這本書。
我很喜欢这本书。/ 我很喜歡這本書。