Breakdown of tāmen zhōumò chángcháng zài gōngyuán sànbù.
Questions & Answers about tāmen zhōumò chángcháng zài gōngyuán sànbù.
In Chinese, time words usually don’t need a preposition like “on,” “in,” or “at.”
- 周末 by itself already means “on/at the weekend(s).”
- So 他们周末常常在公园散步 literally feels like “They weekends often at park walk (for a stroll).”
You can add 在 before a time word:
- 他们在周末常常在公园散步。
This is grammatically OK, but the extra 在 before 周末 is often unnecessary in everyday speech, so many speakers just say 他们周末常常…
Chinese has a fairly regular preferred order:
Subject + Time + Frequency + Place + Verb
So:
- 他们 – subject
- 周末 – time
- 常常 – frequency
- 在公园 – place
- 散步 – verb/action
Other word orders you might think of:
他们常常周末在公园散步。
– Understandable, but sounds a bit awkward; we expect the time word earlier.他们周末在公园常常散步。
– Also understandable, but it breaks up the place phrase; sounds unnatural.他们常常在公园周末散步。
– Wrong: 周末 is a time word, not a place, so putting it after 在公园 is confusing.
Best is the original: 他们周末常常在公园散步。
在公园散步 = “take a walk in the park”
Emphasizes the location where the strolling happens.去公园散步 = “go to the park to take a walk”
Emphasizes going to the park for the purpose of walking.
So:
他们周末常常在公园散步。
Focus: what they often do in the park on weekends.他们周末常常去公园散步。
Focus: they often go to the park (and walk there).
Both are correct; the nuance is slightly different.
Chinese does not use “dummy” verbs like English do (“They do often walk…”) or a separate “are” before actions.
- The main verb 散步 already serves as the predicate:
他们周末常常在公园散步。
= “They weekends often at park walk-(for-a-stroll).”
You only use 是 (shì) like “to be” when linking:
- a noun to a noun: 他是老师。 “He is a teacher.”
- or for emphasis/contrast in special patterns.
You don’t say:
- ✗ 他们是周末常常在公园散步。
That’s incorrect in normal grammar.
散步 is closer to:
- “to take a walk,” “to stroll,” often for relaxation or light exercise.
It’s not just any walking (like walking from your office to the bus stop). For that, Chinese more often uses:
- 走路 (zǒulù) – to walk (as a way of getting somewhere).
Compare:
我每天晚上散步。
“I take a walk every evening.” (for leisure/exercise)我每天走路去公司。
“I walk to the office every day.” (as transport)
Yes.
散步 behaves like a regular verb, so you can add duration or other complements:
- 他们周末常常在公园散步一个小时。
“They often take a walk in the park for an hour on weekends.”
Other examples:
- 我喜欢饭后散步一会儿。 – “I like to take a walk for a while after meals.”
- 我们每天早上在河边散步半个小时。 – “We take a walk by the river for half an hour every morning.”
Chinese doesn’t have articles like “a” or “the.” 公园 by itself can be understood as:
- “a park” or “the park,” depending on context.
If speakers share a specific park in mind, 公园 effectively means “the park”.
If you want to be explicit:
- 一个公园 – “a (random) park”
- 那个公园 – “that park”
- 这座公园 / 这个公园 – “this park”
But in everyday conversation, 在公园散步 is usually fine and natural.
Yes, both are correct:
- 在公园散步 – “take a walk in the park”
- 在公园里散步 – literally “take a walk inside the park”
里 (lǐ) means “inside,” but in many cases adding or omitting 里 doesn’t change the meaning much:
- 在教室上课 / 在教室里上课 – have class in the classroom
- 在房间休息 / 在房间里休息 – rest in the room
Using 里 can sometimes sound a bit more specific or concrete, but it’s often optional.
In modern spoken Mandarin:
- 常常 and 经常 both mean “often/frequently”.
In this sentence, you can freely replace 常常 with 经常:
- 他们周末经常在公园散步。
Subtle differences:
- 经常 is a bit more common in everyday speech in many regions.
- 常常 sometimes sounds slightly more literary or formal, but it’s still very common and natural.
For learners, you can treat them as near-synonyms.
们 is a plural marker for people (and a few animals or personified things), mainly in pronouns:
- 我 → 我们 – I → we
- 你 → 你们 – you (singular) → you (plural)
- 他 / 她 / 它 → 他们 / 她们 / 它们 – he/she/it → they
You don’t generally make regular nouns plural with 们:
- ✗ 公园们 – incorrect for “parks”
- ✔ 很多公园 – “many parks”
- ✔ 一些公园 – “some parks”
So 他们 is “they / them,” and 们 here is necessary to show it’s plural.