Learn Hardcore Chinese: tā jīngcháng shàngwǔ qù túshūguǎn dú wénzhāng. - She often goes to the library in the morning to read articles.

What sounds odd is splitting 经常 too far from the verb or overloading the sentence with extra 在 and time words. But moving 经常 before or after 上午 is fine.

Why is there no 在 before 上午? Why not 在上午?

You can say 在上午, but you don’t have to.

上午 can work directly as a time word:
- 她上午去图书馆。= She goes to the library in the morning.
在上午 is also grammatical:
- 她 在上午 去图书馆。 (a bit more formal/explicit)

For time expressions, Chinese very often omits 在:

我昨天去了。✅ not 我在昨天去了
我明天上班。✅ not 我在明天上班

在 is more obligatory with locations than with time:

我 在图书馆。✅ (I’m at the library)
我图书馆。❌ (missing 在 here if it means “at the library”)

So: 上午 is fine without 在. 在上午 is correct but less common in casual speech.

Why is there also no 在 before 图书馆? Why not 去在图书馆?

Because 去 (qù) already means “go to,” so you don’t need 在 before the place.

Structure here is:

去 + 地点 (place)
go + place

So:

去图书馆 = go to the library
not 去在图书馆

Use 在+place when you want “be at/in” or “do something at/in”:

她 在图书馆 读文章。= She reads articles in the library.

But with 去, just use the place directly:

去北京 (go to Beijing)
去学校 (go to school)
去图书馆 (go to the library)

What is the basic word order in this sentence? Why is it 上午 + 去 + 图书馆 + 读文章?

Chinese tends to follow this pattern:

Subject + (time) + (place) + verb + object

Your sentence:

Subject: 她
Time: 上午
Place: 图书馆
Verb: 去…读
Objects: 图书馆 (for 去), 文章 (for 读)

So more clearly:

她（subject）经常（frequency）上午（time）去图书馆（place）读文章（verb + object）

General pattern:

我明天在学校上课。
他晚上在家里做饭。

Time normally comes before place; both come before the main action.

Is 去 (qù) necessary here? What’s the difference between 去图书馆读文章 and 在图书馆读文章?

Both are correct, but they focus on different things.

去图书馆读文章
- Literally: “go to the library (and) read articles”
- Emphasizes the action of going there and then reading.
在图书馆读文章
- Literally: “read articles in the library”
- Emphasizes the location of the reading, not the going.

So:

她经常上午 去图书馆读文章。
= She often goes to the library in the morning to read.
她经常上午 在图书馆读文章。
= She often reads articles in the library in the morning (we’re not highlighting the going, just where it happens).

Both are natural; choose based on whether you want to highlight going or simply being there and reading.

Why use 读 (dú) instead of 看 (kàn)? What’s the difference?

Both can be used with written materials, but they have different usual focuses:

读: “to read (aloud or in-depth), to study”
- 读文章 (read an article)
- 读书 (read/study books)
- 读报纸 (read the newspaper)
看: “to look at, watch, read (more general/visual)”
- 看书 (read/look at a book)
- 看报纸 (read the newspaper)
- 看电视 (watch TV)
- 看手机 (look at your phone)

In this sentence, 读文章 suggests actually reading/studying the articles (not just glancing). 看文章 is also possible, but 读文章 sounds a bit more “reading as content/study,” which fits well with a library context.

Does 文章 (wénzhāng) mean “article” in the singular or plural? Why is there no measure word?

Chinese nouns don’t change form for singular/plural. 文章 can mean:

“article”
“articles”
“writing/written texts” in general, depending on context.

When you want to specify how many or which one, you use a measure word:

一篇文章 (one article)
两篇文章 (two articles)

In your sentence:

她经常上午去图书馆读文章。

this is a general activity statement—“she goes to the library to read articles / read writings.” We’re not counting them, so no measure word is needed.

When the focus is the activity, not the quantity, Chinese often just uses the bare noun:

看书 (read books)
吃水果 (eat fruit)
写作业 (do homework)
读文章 (read articles/writings)

How do we know this sentence is about a habit and not something happening right now or in the past?

Two main clues:

经常 (often)
- This adverb usually describes repeated or habitual actions.
- So we interpret it as “she often does this (generally).”
No aspect markers like 了, 过, or 着
- 她经常上午去图书馆读文章。= general habit
- 她上午去了图书馆读文章。= she went to the library this morning (specific past event)
- 她上午去过图书馆读文章。= she has been to the library in the morning to read articles (experience)

Chinese doesn’t mark tense the way English does; context and words like 经常, 昨天, 明天 etc. tell you whether it’s habitual, past, or future. Here, 经常 + no past marker → habit.

Can I say 早上 (zǎoshang) instead of 上午 (shàngwǔ)? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can. Both are common, but there is a nuance:

早上: “early morning,” more colloquial, usually from getting up until around 8–9 a.m. (rough idea).
上午: “morning (before noon),” a bit more neutral/formal, roughly from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

So:

她经常早上去图书馆读文章。
She often goes to the library in the (early) morning to read articles.
她经常上午去图书馆读文章。
She often goes in the morning (before noon).

In everyday speech, both are fine; 上午 may sound slightly more standard/textbook-like.

In speech, 他 (he) and 她 (she) both sound like tā. How do listeners know it’s “she” in this sentence?

In spoken Mandarin, 他, 她, and even 它 (it) are all pronounced tā. There is no sound difference.

Listeners understand which one is meant by context:

If you were just talking about a woman, tā will be interpreted as 她.
If you were talking about a man, it will be understood as 他.
For an animal/thing, usually 它.

Only in writing do you distinguish:

他 = he
她 = she
它 = it

So in your sentence on the page it’s 她, but if someone only hears it, they just hear tā and infer gender from the situation.

Can I replace 读文章 with 读书 or 看书? What’s the difference between 文章 and 书 here?

You can, but the meaning shifts slightly.

读文章 = read articles / writings (shorter pieces, essays, texts)
读书 =
- literally “read books,” but often means study in general
- 他在读书。= He is studying / in school.
看书 = read/look at books (activity of reading books)

Alternate versions:

她经常上午去图书馆读书。
→ She often goes to the library in the morning to study/read books (general study feeling).
她经常上午去图书馆看书。
→ She often goes to the library in the morning to read books (activity of reading books).

Your original 读文章 sounds like she’s reading articles, essays, or written pieces, not necessarily whole books.

Can I move 上午 to the very beginning: 上午她经常去图书馆读文章? Is that natural?

Yes, that’s natural and common. Chinese often puts time expressions at the very start to set the scene:

上午，她经常去图书馆读文章。
早上，他一般去跑步。
星期天，我不工作。

Meaning is essentially the same. The nuance:

Original: 她经常上午去图书馆读文章。
→ Focus starts with 她经常 (she often…).
Modified: 上午，她经常去图书馆读文章。
→ Focus starts with 上午 (as for mornings…), then what she often does.

Both are correct and natural in modern Chinese.