A2 · Grammar reference · ASG846EA
Expressing actions in progress with "zai"
在 (zài) and 正在 (zhèngzài) can be used as auxiliary verbs to express that an action is ongoing or in progress. This is often the equivalent of present continuous in English, which is how we express that an activity is happening now.
- Keywords
- 在 · 正在 · 正
- Used for
- Referring to the present · Indicating conditions · Describing actions
- Classification
- Adverbs · HSK1
Examples (10)
她在看书。
妈妈在打电话。
谁在里面洗澡？
阿姨正在打扫我们的房间。
昨天晚上七点，我们在吃饭。
老板在开会，没有时间见你。
我现在在上班，不方便离开。
我们正在上课，请你等一会儿。
你正在开车，不可以玩手机。
你给我打电话的时候，我正在跟朋友打游戏。
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Summary, structure, classification, and adapted sentence examples draw from the AllSet Learning Chinese Grammar Wiki under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; changes were made. This noncommercial reference is based on an October 2023 snapshot.
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