Talking About Future Actions in Chinese - Exercises

Lesson Transcript

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

"I will go to my grandma's house this weekend."

我周末会(pause with a tap of the finger)外婆家。 (Wǒ zhōumò huì (pause with a tap of the finger) wàipó jiā.)

去 (qù)

我周末会去外婆家。 (Wǒ zhōumò huì qù wàipó jiā.)

"I will go to my grandma's house this weekend."

We use 去 (qù) in this sentence because it means "to go," and the sentence talks about going to a location. In Chinese, we often use 去 after 会 (huì) to describe a planned movement toward a place.

穿 (chuān) means "to wear" and doesn't fit with the meaning of going somewhere.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

"She won't come to Beijing next month."

她下个月不会(pause with a tap of the finger)北京。 (Tā xià ge yuè bù huì (pause with a tap of the finger) Běijīng.)

来 (lái)

她下个月不会来北京。 (Tā xià ge yuè bù huì lái Běijīng.)

"She won't come to Beijing next month."

We use 来 (lái) here because it means "to come," which fits with the subject arriving in Beijing.

吃 (chī), meaning "to eat," doesn't match the context of arriving at a place.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

"Will you go to the movies tomorrow?"

你明天会去(pause with a tap of the finger)吗？ (Nǐ míngtiān huì qù (pause with a tap of the finger) ma?)

看电影 (kàn diànyǐng)

你明天会去看电影吗？ (Nǐ míngtiān huì qù kàn diànyǐng ma?)

"Will you go to the movies tomorrow?"

We use 看电影 (kàn diànyǐng) here because the verb 看 means "to watch" and 电影 means "movie." Together, it means "to watch a movie," which fits with the action of going somewhere to do something.

洗澡 (xǐzǎo), meaning "to take a shower," is unrelated to the idea of watching a movie.

Unscramble the words to make a sentence.

Ready?

他们 (Tāmen)

他们周五 (Tāmen zhōuwǔ)

他们周五会 (Tāmen zhōuwǔ huì)

他们周五会开始 (Tāmen zhōuwǔ huì kāishǐ)

他们周五会开始新工作。 (Tāmen zhōuwǔ huì kāishǐ xīn gōngzuò.)

"They will start a new job on Friday."

他们周五会开始新工作。 (Tāmen zhōuwǔ huì kāishǐ xīn gōngzuò.)

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

"I won't go out tonight."

我晚上不会(坐 or 出门)。 (Wǒ wǎnshang bù huì (zuò or chūmén).)

出门 (chūmén)

我晚上不会出门。 (Wǒ wǎnshang bù huì chūmén.)

"I won't go out tonight."

In this sentence, we use 不会 (bù huì) followed by 出门 (chūmén) to express a negative future action — "won't go out."

坐 (zuò) means "to sit," which doesn't make sense in this sentence, so it's not the right choice.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

"We will have a meeting tomorrow."

我们明天会开一个(跳 or 会议)。 (Wǒmen míngtiān huì kāi yī ge (tiào or huìyì).)

会议 (huìyì)

我们明天会开一个会议。 (Wǒmen míngtiān huì kāi yī ge huìyì.)

"We will have a meeting tomorrow."

The phrase 会开一个会议 (huì kāi yī ge huìyì) uses 会 (huì) to indicate a planned future action — "will hold a meeting."

会议 (huìyì) means "meeting."

跳 (tiào) means "to jump," which doesn't match the context of a formal meeting, so it's incorrect here.

Let's translate some sentences into Chinese.

Translate "I will learn to drive next week." into Chinese.

我 (wǒ) is the subject pronoun meaning "I,"

followed by

下个星期 (xià ge xīngqī) is a time phrase meaning "next week,"

会 (huì) is an auxiliary verb used to indicate future actions, meaning "will,"

followed by

学 (xué) is the verb meaning "to learn,"

开车 (kāichē) is a verb-object phrase meaning "to drive," where 开 (kāi) means "to operate" and 车 (chē) means "car."

我下个星期会学开车。 (Wǒ xià ge xīngqī huì xué kāichē.)

"I will learn to drive next week.

Translate "Will you travel during Christmas?" into Chinese.

你 (nǐ) is the subject pronoun meaning "you,"

followed by

圣诞节 (Shèngdànjié) is a time expression meaning "Christmas,"

会 (huì) is the future modal verb meaning "will,"

followed by

去 (qù) is the verb meaning "to go,"

旅行 (lǚxíng) is a noun-verb compound meaning "travel,"

and finally

吗 (ma) is a question particle used to form yes-no questions.

你圣诞节会去旅行吗？ (Nǐ Shèngdànjié huì qù lǚxíng ma?)

"Will you travel during Christmas?

Translate "He won't go home right after the exam." into Chinese.

他 (tā) is the subject pronoun meaning "he,"

followed by

考试以后 (kǎoshì yǐhòu) is a time expression meaning "after the exam," where 考试 (kǎoshì) means "exam" and 以后 (yǐhòu) means "after,"

不会 (bù huì) is the negated future auxiliary meaning "will not,"

followed by

马上 (mǎshàng) is an adverb meaning "immediately" or "right away,"

回家 (huí jiā) is a verb-object phrase meaning "to return home," where 回 (huí) means "return" and 家 (jiā) means "home."

他考试以后不会马上回家。 (Tā kǎoshì yǐhòu bù huì mǎshàng huí jiā.)

"He won't go home right after the exam.

Listen to me as I speak. Which future action using 会 (huì) is used in the sentences?

我周末会去外婆家。 (Wǒ zhōumò huì qù wàipó jiā.)

Let's listen one more time.

我周末会去外婆家。 (Wǒ zhōumò huì qù wàipó jiā.)

Did you hear, 会去 (huì qù)?

会 (huì) means "will," and 去 (qù) means "to go." Together, they express a planned future action — in this case, going to grandma's house.

How about...?

你明天会去看电影吗？ (Nǐ míngtiān huì qù kàn diànyǐng ma?)

Let's listen one more time.

你明天会去看电影吗？ (Nǐ míngtiān huì qù kàn diànyǐng ma?)

Did you hear, 会去...吗？ (huì qù...ma?)

The question word 吗 (ma) turns the statement into a yes-or-no question. This sentence uses the same future structure 会去 (huì qù) to talk about plans, and adds 吗 (ma) to ask, "Will you go?"

Next…

我晚上不会出门。 (Wǒ wǎnshang bù huì chūmén.)

One more time.

我晚上不会出门。 (Wǒ wǎnshang bù huì chūmén.)

Did you hear, 不会出门 (bù huì chūmén)?

不会 (bù huì) is the negative form of 会 (huì), and means "will not." 出门 (chūmén) means "to go out." This sentence is saying "I won't go out tonight."

And...

我下个星期会学开车。 (Wǒ xià ge xīngqī huì xué kāichē.)

One more time.

我下个星期会学开车。 (Wǒ xià ge xīngqī huì xué kāichē.)

Did you hear, 会学 (huì xué)?

Here, 会 (huì) again means "will," and 学 (xué) means "to learn." This pattern is used to say what someone plans to study or start learning in the future.

Thank you for watching.

Now you know how to talk about future actions in Chinese.

...and now you can move on to the next lesson in the pathway.

再见。(Zàijiàn.)

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