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A2 Intermediate Sentence Structure

Time Words and Word Order: Where “Today / Tomorrow” Go

A time word (今天, 明天, 周末, 现在…) has two correct homes — at the front of the sentence or right after the subject — and never the end. 明天我去 and 我明天去 are both right; 我去明天 is wrong.

Why this trips learners up

One of the first questions every learner hits: where does a time word go in a Chinese sentence? “Yesterday”, “tomorrow”, “this weekend”, “at 8 o'clock” — words like 今天, 明天, 周末, 现在. The good news is Chinese gives you two correct spots, and you can pick either: at the very front (before the subject) or right after the subject. 明天我去 and 我明天去 both mean “I'm going tomorrow”, and both are perfectly natural.

The one rule you can't break: a time word never goes at the end. English happily says “I'm going tomorrow”, saving the time for last — and that exact instinct produces the most common beginner error, 我去明天 ✗. In Chinese the time always comes before the verb. So whenever you want to say when, put it up front or just after the subject — and if you stack two (a date and a clock time), run them big to small: 明天八点 (“tomorrow at 8”), not 八点明天.

The structure

TimeSubjectVerbObject
Colour key

Each colour marks one grammatical role — and the same colour means the same role on every page in the Lab.

Subject Verb Object Time Function word Measure word Number

Examples in context

Real-world sentences, easiest first. Toggle pinyin or the translation, tap any word to see its role, or play the audio.

Tap a word to see its grammatical role.

jīntiān 今天 Time wǒ 我 Subject xiūxi 休息 Verb

Today I'm off.

wǒ 我 Subject míngtiān 明天 Time shàngbān 上班 Verb

I'm working tomorrow.

zǎoshang 早上 Time tā 他 Subject hē 喝 Verb kāfēi 咖啡 Object

In the morning he drinks coffee.

wǒmen 我们 Subject zhōumò 周末 Time kàn 看 Verb diànyǐng 电影 Object

We're watching a movie this weekend.

zuótiān 昨天 Time wǒ 我 Subject mǎi 买 Verb le 了 Function word yì 一 Number běn 本 Measure word shū 书 Object

Yesterday I bought a book.

tā 她 Subject xiàwǔ 下午 Time yào 要 Function word qù 去 Verb yīyuàn 医院 Object

She has to go to the hospital this afternoon.

xià gè xīngqīyī 下个星期一 Time wǒmen 我们 Subject kǎoshì 考试 Verb

We have an exam next Monday.

māma 妈妈 Subject měitiān 每天 Time zǎoshang 早上 Time liù diǎn 六点 Time qǐchuáng 起床 Verb

Mom gets up at six every morning.

Common mistakes

Avoid: 我看电影明天。 wǒ kàn diànyǐng míngtiān.
Say this: 我明天看电影。 wǒ míngtiān kàn diànyǐng.

Why it happens: The English instinct is to drop the time at the end — “I'm watching a movie tomorrow”. In Chinese the time word goes before the verb: 我明天看电影, never 我看电影明天. The end is the one position that's always wrong.

Avoid: 我去明天学校。 wǒ qù míngtiān xuéxiào.
Say this: 我明天去学校。 wǒ míngtiān qù xuéxiào.

Why it happens: A time word can't squeeze between the verb and its object either. “I'm going to school tomorrow” is 我明天去学校 — 明天 sits before 去, not 我去明天学校.

Avoid: 八点明天我有课。 bā diǎn míngtiān wǒ yǒu kè.
Say this: 明天八点我有课。 míngtiān bā diǎn wǒ yǒu kè.

Why it happens: When two time words stack, go big to small: the date before the clock time. “I have class at 8 tomorrow” is 明天八点我有课 (tomorrow → 8 o'clock), not 八点明天.

Compare & contrast

Time before the subjectTime after the subjectThe difference
明天我有空。míngtiān wǒ yǒu kòng.我明天有空。wǒ míngtiān yǒu kòng.明天我有空 puts 明天 first, before 我. 我明天有空 tucks it just after the subject. Both mean “I'm free tomorrow”, and both are completely natural.
周末他们去爬山。zhōumò tāmen qù páshān.他们周末去爬山。tāmen zhōumò qù páshān.周末他们去爬山 leads with the time; 他们周末去爬山 slips it in after the subject. Either way it's “they go hiking on the weekend”.
Rule of thumbA time word has two homes — the very front (before the subject) or right after the subject. Both are correct and interchangeable; what's never allowed is parking it at the end, English-style.

Try it yourself

Say “I'm going to Beijing tomorrow” — tap the words into a natural order.

Related patterns

我吃饭How to Build a Basic Chinese Sentence

Time placement is the first thing that breaks the English-matching subject-verb-object order — here's that base frame.

 年月日How to Say Dates in Chinese (年 / 月 / 号)

These are the time words themselves — build the date with 年/月/号, then drop it in before the verb.

 点 / 分How to Tell Time in Chinese (点, 分, 刻, 差)

A clock time IS a time word — 三点, 八点半 — so it lands before the verb, front or right after the subject.

 的时候的时候 (de shíhou): How to Say “When” / “While”

A whole “when…” clause uses 的时候; this page handles single time words like 今天 and 明天.

 以前以前 (yǐqián): How to Say “Before…” and “In the Past”

以前 (“before / in the past”) is a time expression too — the same placement rule applies.

 从…到从…到… (cóng…dào…): How to Say “From… To…”

A 从…到… time range is a time phrase too — it sits before the verb, never trailing at the end.

 之前How to Say “Before” with 之前 (zhīqián)

之前 phrases (考试之前, 一个月之前) are time words too, so they follow the same placement rule: front or right after the subject, never at the end.

 时How to Say “When” with 时 (shí)

A Time + 时 phrase (the formal “when”) is a time word too, so it follows the same rule: front of the sentence or right after the subject.

 当…时候How to Say “When” with 当 (dāng)

A clause-length version of “time comes first.” A 当…的时候 frame is a whole time clause, and like any time word it leads the sentence — 当我回到家的时候，天已经黑了 — never trailing at the end English-style. Same front-loading rule, scaled up from a single time word to a full clause.
Quick reference card
Merry Mandarin Time Words and Word Order: Where “Today / Tomorrow” Go grammar.merrymandarin.com

A pocket summary — print it and keep it by your desk.

Structure
Time + Subject + Verb + Object
Example
今天我休息
Today I'm off.
Watch out
✗ 我看电影明天。  →  ✓ 我明天看电影。