Use of 着
The aspect particle 着 does not have an English equivalent. It has two main functions.
1. To indicate a continuous current situation
Many Chinese sentences follow the 'topic + comment' structure. Here the topic is a place, and the following verbal phrase is the comment. 着 is put straight after the verb.
A man is standing by the door. |
门口站着一个人。 |
A coat is hanging on the wall. |
墙上挂着一件大衣。 |
It says on the board 'buy one get one free'. |
牌子上写着买一送一。 |
Note that many verbs such as 挂 'to hang' and 写 'to write' depict a short-lasting action, but when 着 is added, i.e. 挂着, 写着, it indicates a long-lasting situation.
2. To describe a continuous dynamic event
When there are two action verbs in a sentence and one of them describes the main action, 着 is put after the subsidiary verb to describe the simultaneous subordinate action.
He walked out, smiling. |
他笑着走了出来。 |
She held a board and waved to me. |
她举着牌子向我招手。 |
Take your camera and receipt and go to the customer services. |
你拿着相机和收据去客户服务部。 |
Note that the subordinate action always precedes the main action.
Fill in the gaps
Complete Lilly's account of her visit to the silk factory by selecting the correct option. Decide whether to use 了, 着 or no particle at all with the preceding verbs. Check your answers. You can listen to the whole paragraph by clicking on the audio button. Click on 帮助 if you need to access the English translations.
hint 1
我们到 以后，看到门口站 一个人。她是 我们的讲解员。她先带我们参观 展示区，那里陈列 很多同丝绸生产有关的展品。工人们做 演示，电视机里也放 录像。随后我们去 销售区。那个有 各式各样的产品。我看到墙上写 “厂家直销”。讲解员说，这里的品质比较可靠。我想 一下，最后买 一条蚕丝被。
After we arrived, we saw a person standing by the door. She was our guide. She first took us to visit the exhibition area, where many exhibits about silk manufacturing were on display. Workers were doing demonstrations and there were also videos playing on TVs. And then we went to the sales area. There were all kinds of products there. I saw a sign saying 'Direct from the factory' on the wall. The guide said that the quality here was trustworthy. I thought about it, and in the end bought a silk quilt.
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Practice of 着
Practise the use of the particle 着 by translating the following sentences into Chinese. The first click on 帮助 gives you the necessary keywords, the second click gives you the answer. You can also click on the individual audio buttons to hear the sentences. Compare your entries with the sample answers.
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