Questions & Answers about dāngshí tiānqì hěn lěng.
Why does 当时 come at the beginning of the sentence?
In Mandarin, time words often come near the beginning of the sentence, before the main description.
So:
- 当时 = at that time / then
- 天气 = the weather
- 很冷 = was cold
The basic pattern is:
Time + topic/subject + comment
So 当时天气很冷 literally feels like:
At that time, the weather was cold.
This word order is very natural in Chinese.
What exactly does 当时 mean?
当时 means at that time, then, or at that moment, depending on context.
It refers to a specific time already understood from the conversation or story.
For example:
- 当时天气很冷。 = The weather was cold at that time.
- 我当时不明白。 = I didn’t understand at that time.
A learner should know that 当时 is not just a general before or in the past. It usually points to a particular past situation.
Why is 很 used before 冷? Does it mean very cold?