I think “zài” could be used both in the present and past tense.
For present tense, the structure is “zài + verb”. But for “Zhù”. If we say “I live in….”. In Chinese it is put after “zhù”. I think this is a special usage.
As for past or past present tense "wǒ structure is " Subject + zài + Verb + le + time. For example:
wǒ zài zhōng guó gōng zuò le 10 nián = I have worked in China for 10 years.
wǒ zài Japan dāi le 3 nián = I have stayed in Japan in 3 years.
The other usages for “zài” is “zài nǎ li = where is”.
What usually confuses people is the other “zài 再” which has the same prounciation but different characters and meaning. This “zài再” is from “zài jiàn 再见”. It means “again”. In Chinese, it is used as “zài + verb = do something again”. For example:
zài zuò yi cì = do it again. zài lái yì bēi kā fēi = Give me another cup of coffee.
Those 2 “zài” look exactly same in PinYin, only different in characters. I used to hate this word, because it’s so confusing, how come I know which “zài” is “again” or “to be at/in”?
So, the conculsion is "first you need to understand the characters, if not, it’s gonna be more difficult. You need to be able to recognize it pending on context.
Am I right? Benny?
Frank
