時量補語grammar point · tier 4 · duration complement (how long the action runs)
Duration complement: a time-amount sits after the verb to say how long the action has run.
字源 FORM what the parts do
Two slots in order: the verb, then a time-amount behind it. The amount is built as a count plus its unit and stands as the complement, measuring the verb rather than dating it.
故事 STORY a scene to remember it by
The action runs along the ground; a tape measure trails behind it, marking how long the run lasts.
字源自撰記憶法
框 · Frame
[verb] [duration amount] (了)
觸 · Trigger
You want to say how long an action has gone on, and the time-amount has to fall behind the verb.
序 · The move
1Set the verb down.Is this an action whose length you mean to measure, not a point you mean to date?
2Lay the time-amount behind the verb, built as number + measure + unit (一個月, 三年).Is the amount AFTER the verb, not before it?
3Add 了 at the end if the stretch reaches up to now.Does 了 carry the run continuing to the present?
例 · Examples
1他已經already來come臺灣Taiwan一個月one month (the duration complement)了the run reaches up to now。
Position splits them. A duration complement (一個月) sits AFTER the verb and measures how long it ran; a time-when expression (六月) sits BEFORE the verb and dates the point it happened. 他來臺灣一個月 = he has been here a month; 他六月來臺灣 = he came in June.
duration fronted: 他一個月來臺灣 → 他來臺灣一個月了
amount left bare without a unit: 他學中文三 → 他學中文三年
complement detached by a stop: 他工作了。三個小時。 → 他工作了三個小時。
English hangs duration on a 'for' phrase that can roam (for a month he stayed / he stayed for a month); Chinese fixes it behind the verb, no preposition, so learners front it where English puts a time adverb.