Breakdown of yǒuyìtiān wǒ xiǎng gēn jiārén zài gōngyuán sànbù.
Questions & Answers about yǒuyìtiān wǒ xiǎng gēn jiārén zài gōngyuán sànbù.
有一天 literally means “there is one day”, but in this kind of sentence it means “one day / someday” (often about the future, but can also be past, depending on context).
Placing it at the very beginning is very natural:
- 有一天，我想跟家人在公园散步。
Someday, I want to take a walk with my family in the park.
You could also say:
- 我有一天想跟家人在公园散步。
This is grammatically OK, but less natural and a bit awkward, because time expressions usually come before the subject or right after it. The most natural positions for a time word like 有一天 are:
- 有一天，我想跟家人在公园散步。
- 将来有一天，我想跟家人在公园散步。
Putting 有一天 in the middle, e.g. 我想有一天跟家人在公园散步, is also possible and used, but it feels a bit more like emphasizing the wish “I want to, one day, walk with my family”. The original word order is very standard and neutral.
有一天 can mean either “one day (in the future)” or “one day (in the past)”, depending on context and the rest of the story.
Future:
有一天，我想跟家人在公园散步。
Here, 想 expresses a wish/plan, so we understand it as “someday in the future”.Past (often in storytelling):
有一天，我跟家人在公园散步。
Here there is no 想, just a past narrative; this is like “One day, I was taking a walk with my family in the park.”
So 有一天 is flexible; the verb and context decide whether it’s past or future.
想 has two common meanings:
To think / to miss
- 我想他说得对。 – I think he is right.
- 我很想你。 – I really miss you.
To want / would like to
- 我想喝咖啡。 – I want to drink coffee.
- 有一天，我想跟家人在公园散步。 – One day, I want to take a walk with my family in the park.
In your sentence, 想 clearly means “want / would like to” because it’s followed by another verb phrase (跟家人在公园散步). A good English feeling here is “I would like to” or “I hope to”, softer than a strong intention.
Both 想 and 要 can be translated as “want”, but their nuance is different.
想 = would like to / feel like / wish to
Softer, more about desire or idea.- 有一天，我想跟家人在公园散步。
Someday, I’d like to take a walk with my family.
- 有一天，我想跟家人在公园散步。
要 = be going to / intend to / need to
Stronger, more determined or imminent.- 有一天，我要跟家人在公园散步。
Sounds like: One day, I am going to walk with my family in the park (more determined, or even slightly demanding, depending on context).
- 有一天，我要跟家人在公园散步。
For expressing a gentle dream or wish, 想 is more natural than 要.
跟 can indeed be a verb meaning “to follow”, but in your sentence it is a preposition (or coverb) meaning “with / together with”.
As a verb:
- 小狗跟着我。 – The puppy is following me.
As a preposition:
- 我跟家人散步。 – I take a walk with my family.
In 我想跟家人在公园散步:
- 跟家人 = with my family (companion)
- 在公园 = in the park (place)
So 跟 here is not “follow”, but “with”.
You could also say 和家人 instead of 跟家人:
- 我想和家人在公园散步。
In this usage, 跟 and 和 are almost interchangeable.
In Chinese, we do not use 是 directly before another verb phrase in this way. 是 is mainly used to link:
- A subject and a noun:
- 他是老师。 – He is a teacher.
- Or a subject and a noun phrase emphasizing identity:
- 有一天是我最快乐的一天。 – There was one day that was my happiest day.
But we do not say:
- ✗ 我是想散步。
if you simply mean “I want to take a walk.”
Instead, we just say:
- 我想散步。
In your sentence, the structure is:
- 有一天 (time)
- 我 (subject)
- 想 (modal verb, “want to / would like to”)
- 跟家人在公园散步 (verb phrase)
There’s no place for 是 here. Adding 是 would make it ungrammatical or change it into a different, more complicated structure.
在 is used to mark location. It can mean “at / in / on” depending on the context.
In 在公园散步:
- 在 = at / in
- 公园 = the park
- 散步 = to take a walk
So 在公园散步 = “take a walk in the park”.
Structure:
- 跟家人 – with family (companion)
- 在公园 – in the park (place)
- 散步 – walk (for leisure)
Both 跟 and 在 are “coverbs” or prepositions that come before the main verb to introduce extra information (with whom, where, etc.).
Yes, you can say 去公园散步, and it is grammatical, but the focus shifts slightly.
在公园散步 – focuses on where the walking happens (in the park).
- 有一天，我想跟家人在公园散步。
One day, I want to walk with my family in the park.
- 有一天，我想跟家人在公园散步。
去公园散步 – focuses more on going to the park in order to walk.
- 有一天，我想跟家人去公园散步。
One day, I want to go to the park (in order) to take a walk with my family.
- 有一天，我想跟家人去公园散步。
Both are natural. The version with 在 is slightly more about the scene in the park; the version with 去 is more about the going there + walking.
They are related but not the same:
家人 – family member(s), people, usually your own family.
- 我想跟家人散步。 – I want to walk with my family (members).
家 – home / family (more general, can mean the physical home or “family” as a unit).
- 我爱我的家。 – I love my home / family.
家庭 – family as a more abstract or formal concept (the family unit).
- 家庭关系 – family relationships.
- 他很重视家庭。 – He values (his) family a lot.
In this sentence, you want to emphasize the people you are with, so 家人 is the natural choice.
You can say 我的家人:
- 有一天，我想跟我的家人在公园散步。
This is completely correct.
However, in many contexts, when you say 家人, it is understood to be your own family unless another subject is clearly stated. So:
- 我想跟家人散步。
is normally interpreted as “I want to walk with my (own) family.”
Adding 我的 just makes it slightly more explicit. Omitting it sounds a bit more natural and less repetitive in everyday speech, especially when the subject 我 is already there.
Both involve walking, but they are used differently:
散步 – to take a walk / to stroll for relaxation or pleasure, usually not to get somewhere important.
- 我们晚上一起去公园散步。 – We go for a walk in the park in the evening.
走路 – to walk (on foot), usually in contrast to other ways of moving (driving, riding, etc.), and often about transportation or the action itself.
- 我走路去学校。 – I walk to school (instead of taking a bus/car).
In 跟家人在公园散步, the idea is a leisure walk with family, so 散步 is the perfect verb.
了 often marks completed action or change of state, and it is very common in past-tense narratives or to show something has just happened or is now decided.
In your sentence:
- 有一天，我想跟家人在公园散步。
The key points:
- 有一天 – “one day / someday” (not a specific completed time)
- 想 – expresses a desire or wish, not a completed action
You are not describing something that already happened; you are expressing what you want to do at some indefinite point. Because there is no completed event here, 了 is not needed.
If you were telling a past story, you might say:
- 有一天，我跟家人在公园散步了。
One day, I (indeed) took a walk with my family in the park.
Here 了 can mark the action as a completed event in a narrative.
Yes, you can omit 我 in the right context. Chinese is often a pro‑drop language, meaning subjects (and sometimes objects) can be left out if they are clear from context.
- 有一天想跟家人在公园散步。
If it’s already clear you’re talking about yourself, this would naturally be understood as “(I) someday want to take a walk with my family in the park.”
However, in an isolated sentence (like on a flashcard), including 我 is clearer for learners and is completely natural:
- 有一天，我想跟家人在公园散步。
The word 一 (yī) changes tone depending on what follows. The basic rule:
- Before a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd tone syllable, 一 is pronounced with 4th tone (yì).
- Before a 4th tone syllable, 一 is pronounced with 2nd tone (yí).
- When said alone or counted slowly, it’s yī (1st tone).
In 一天:
- 天 is 1st tone (tiān),
- So 一 changes to 4th tone: yìtiān.
In 有一天, it becomes:
- yǒu yì tiān – written in pinyin as yǒuyìtiān.
So the given pinyin yǒuyìtiān is correct and comes from the standard tone‑change rule for 一.