wǒ cóngxiǎo yǒu yí duàn shíjiān gēn yéye nǎinai yìqǐ zhù zài jiāoqū, xiànzài hái hěn xiǎngniàn nà duàn shēnghuó.

从小 literally means “from (when I was) small,” and is often translated as “since childhood” or “when I was little.”

• 从小 focuses on the starting point: from early childhood onward.

  • 我从小就喜欢画画。
    → I’ve liked drawing since I was little.

• 小时候 means “(during) childhood / when (I) was a child,” focusing on a period rather than a starting point.

  • 小时候我喜欢画画。
    → I liked drawing when I was a child.

In many contexts, they can be interchangeable, but 从小 tends to sound a bit more like “ever since I was little,” while 小时候 is more like “back when I was a kid.”

In 有一段时间, the 有 works like “there was / I had” and helps introduce a period of time:

• 我从小有一段时间跟爷爷奶奶一起住在郊区
  → “When I was young, there was a period of time when I lived with my grandparents in the suburbs.”

Structurally, it’s similar to English “There was a time when…”

You can omit 有 and say:

• 我从小一段时间跟爷爷奶奶一起住在郊区 ❌ (sounds wrong/unnatural)

Without 有, the phrase becomes ungrammatical here. You’d have to restructure:

• 我从小有一段时间跟爷爷奶奶一起住在郊区 ✔️
• 我从小跟爷爷奶奶一起住在郊区。✔️ (just states a general fact, no “a certain period” nuance)

So: 有 is needed if you want to express “there was a period of time.”

一段时间 means “a period of time” or “for some time.”

• 段 is a measure word (classifier) for:
  • time: 一段时间 (a period of time)
  • text/speech: 一段话 (a passage / a segment of speech)
  • road/film/experience, etc.: 一段路 (a stretch of road), 一段经历 (a period of experience)

So 一段时间 is literally “one segment of time.”

In this sentence, it emphasizes that the speaker lived with the grandparents for a certain limited period, not their entire childhood.

This is due to tone sandhi (tone change) for 一 (yī):

• 一 changes to second tone (yí) when it comes before a fourth-tone syllable:
  • 一段 → yí duàn
  • 一样 → yí yàng
  • 一次 → yí cì

It stays first tone (yī) when:

• said in isolation, or
• emphasized: 不是两次，是一次！(Not twice, but once!)

Here, 跟 means “with”:

• 跟爷爷奶奶一起住在郊区
  → live with grandparents in the suburbs

You can usually replace it with 和 in this type of sentence:

• 我和爷爷奶奶一起住在郊区。✔️
• 我跟爷爷奶奶一起住在郊区。✔️

Both are natural. 跟 is very common in spoken language when meaning “with (someone).”
Slight nuance (not strict):

• 和 sounds a bit more neutral/formal.
• 跟 feels a bit more colloquial/conversational.

一起 means “together”:

• 跟爷爷奶奶一起住在郊区
  → “live in the suburbs together with (my) grandparents”

If you omit 一起, the sentence is still understandable but loses some naturalness and emphasis on “together”:

• 我从小有一段时间跟爷爷奶奶住在郊区。
  → Grammatically okay, but sounds a bit terse.

Including 一起 is very natural when describing living/doing things with someone. It highlights the shared action.

Both word orders can be used, but 住在 + place is more common and natural when simply stating where someone lives:

• 我住在北京。✔️
• 我住在郊区。✔️

住在 + place = “live at/in [place].”

在 + place + 住 is also possible, but:

• often used when contrasting locations or putting strong emphasis on the place:
  • 我在北京住了三年，在上海住了五年。
• or when the place phrase is long or complex.

In this specific sentence, 住在郊区 is the most straightforward, idiomatic choice.

郊区 means “suburbs / suburban area(s)”, i.e. places on the edge of a city but still strongly connected to it.

It is not the same as “countryside”:

• 郊区 → suburbs, outskirts of a city
• 农村 (nóngcūn) or 乡下 (xiāngxia) → countryside, rural areas

So:

• 我住在郊区。→ I live in the suburbs.
• 我住在农村 / 乡下。→ I live in the countryside.

In this sentence, 还 means something like “still”:

• 现在还很想念那段生活
  → “I still really miss that period of life even now.”

Common meanings of 还:

• still (continuing state):
  
  • 我还在上班。→ I’m still at work.
• also / in addition:
  
  • 他会说中文，还会说日文。→ He can speak Chinese and also Japanese.

再 often means “again” or “further / more”:

• 他又来了。→ He came again. (already happened again)
• 明天再说。→ Let’s talk about it again / later / another time.

Here, we need “still miss (it) now,” so 还 is correct, not 再.

Grammatically, Chinese predicates with adjectives or certain verbs often need something like 很 before them. In this sentence:

• 现在还很想念那段生活
  literally: “Now still very miss that period of life.”

很 can have two roles:

1. As a degree marker: truly “very,” “really.”
   • 我很高兴。→ I’m very happy.
2. As a kind of “linking” adverb that just makes the sentence sound complete and natural, without strong “very” emphasis.

Here, it can be understood as both:

• semantically: “I really miss that period of life,”
• grammatically: it helps the sentence sound smooth.

If you say:

• 现在还想念那段生活。
  → Understandable, but sounds slightly clipped; 很 makes it more natural and adds some emotion.

Both relate to “thinking of / missing,” but there’s a nuance:

• 想
  • can mean “to think,” “to want,” or “to miss/think of (someone/something)” depending on context:
    • 我想你。→ I miss you / I’m thinking of you.
    • 我想吃面条。→ I want to eat noodles.
• 想念
  • more specifically means “to miss (someone or something emotionally)”; often sounds a bit more emotional or literary:
    • 我很想念你。→ I really miss you.

In this sentence, 想念那段生活 emphasizes emotional nostalgia.
You could say:

• 现在还很想那段生活。
  → Grammatically okay, but sounds less natural; 想念 is more idiomatic for “miss (that period of life).”

那段生活 literally means “that period of life / that lifestyle / those days.”

• 生活 = life / daily life / way of living.
• 那段 = “that segment / that period.”

Using 段 with 生活 emphasizes that we’re talking about a specific period or phase of life, not life in general:

• 我很想念那段生活。
  → I really miss those days / that period of my life.

Other similar uses:

• 那段日子 → those days
• 那段时间 → that period of time

Chinese usually expresses time using time words and context, not verb tense endings.

In this sentence, the past meaning comes from:

1. 从小 – “since I was little / when I was small.”
   This clearly refers to a past life stage.
2. 有一段时间 – “there was a period of time.”
   This implies a completed or bounded time in the past.
3. The contrast with 现在还很想念 – “now I still miss that period of life.”
   If the speaker still lived there now, they wouldn’t normally phrase it as “miss that period.”

All that together makes it clear we’re talking about a past situation: “I used to live with my grandparents in the suburbs.”

Yes, you can say:

• 我从小跟爷爷奶奶一起住在郊区。✔️
  → When I was little, I lived with my grandparents in the suburbs.

Difference in nuance:

• 我从小跟爷爷奶奶一起住在郊区。
  → Suggests a general, possibly long-term situation throughout childhood.
• 我从小有一段时间跟爷爷奶奶一起住在郊区。
  → Emphasizes it was a specific period, not necessarily the entire childhood (maybe just a few years).

So 有一段时间 adds the idea of “for a certain stretch of time,” not the whole period.

Here, 生活 is closer to “everyday life / way of living / daily experience.”

• 想念那段生活
  → miss that way of life / that period of daily living / those days, not “miss that entire biological life.”

Some shades of meaning of 生活:

• 我在北京的生活很忙。→ My life in Beijing is busy. (daily routine)
• 生活很不容易。→ Life is not easy. (more general)

In this sentence, it’s nostalgic: “I still really miss the way things were during that time.”