HSK 3 grammar · complement
时量补语
时量补语 — duration complement (how long)
Pattern
+
+ + +
+ + +
and it is still going on
( ) can be left out · other words may come before, between and after
How it works
A time-length phrase after the verb tells how long the action lasts — 看了两个小时 "watched for two hours". With an object, repeat the verb (or place the duration before the object). It can also mark how long it has been since an action finished.
Examples
我每天学习三个小时。
Wǒ měitiān xuéxí sān ge xiǎoshí.
I study for three hours every day.
他看电视看了一个上午。
Tā kàn diànshì kàn le yí ge shàngwǔ.
He watched TV for the whole morning.
我等了半个小时。
Wǒ děng le bàn ge xiǎoshí.
I waited for half an hour.
他离开公司已经三年了。
Tā líkāi gōngsī yǐjīng sān nián le.
It's already been three years since he left the company.
Related
See it in a story
In the app, 时量补语 is underlined wherever it appears in the stories you read, and practised with sentences from them. Free.