<p>I think it's just the same when it is in english:  </p>

<pre><code>今天我想吃早饭 - Today I want to have breakfast  
我想八点钟吃早饭 - I want to have breakfast at eight  

我想今天吃早饭 - I want to have breakfast today  
八点钟我想吃早饭 - At eight, I want to have breakfast 
</code></pre>

<p>All these sentence make sense and are acceptable.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-27T20:37:02.847Z
2014-08-27T20:42:29.303Z
2014-08-27T20:42:29.303Z
user3919509
<p>I'm not an expert in sentence structure, but I believe </p>

<pre><code>我想今天吃
</code></pre>

<p>has a more focus on the necessity of eating something <em>today</em>, where</p>

<pre><code>今天我想吃
</code></pre>

<p>does not have such focus.</p>

<p>As for the case of specific timing, it works the same way. If you add <em>在</em> (at) to the sentence</p>

<pre><code>我想(在)八点钟吃早饭
</code></pre>

<p>then you are stressing that you want to eat breakfast <em>at 8 o'clock</em>. On the other hand,</p>

<pre><code>(在)八点钟我想吃早饭
</code></pre>

<p>does not have such focus. But I have never heard people talk like this way though.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-27T19:44:53.037Z
2014-08-27T19:44:53.037Z
LulalaBoss
<p>During my time learning Chinese, I've heard two distinct word orders when referencing the time at which something will occur. For example, I was taught to say 今天我想吃早饭 to talk about 今天, 明天, etc, but I was taught to say 我想八点钟吃早饭 when speaking about a specific time, which seems a rather different word order.</p>

<p>What are the rules surrounding the word order when talking about time in this context? Are both ways acceptable (that is, would 八点钟我想吃早饭 and 我想今天吃早饭 also be okay)?</p>

<sentence-structure><word-order><time>
What are the rules surrounding word order when talking about time (e.g. are 八点钟我想吃早饭 or 我想今天吃早饭 okay)?
# What are the rules surrounding word order when talking about time (e.g. are 八点钟我想吃早饭 or 我想今天吃早饭 okay)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-08-27)

During my time learning Chinese, I've heard two distinct word orders when referencing the time at which something will occur. For example, I was taught to say 今天我想吃早饭 to talk about 今天, 明天, etc, but I was taught to say 我想八点钟吃早饭 when speaking about a specific time, which seems a rather different word order.

What are the rules surrounding the word order when talking about time in this context? Are both ways acceptable (that is, would 八点钟我想吃早饭 and 我想今天吃早饭 also be okay)?

**Tags:** sentence-structure, word-order, time


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-08-27. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

I think it's just the same when it is in english:  
今天我想吃早饭 - Today I want to have breakfast  
我想八点钟吃早饭 - I want to have breakfast at eight  

我想今天吃早饭 - I want to have breakfast today  
八点钟我想吃早饭 - At eight, I want to have breakfast 

All these sentence make sense and are acceptable.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2014-08-27. Score: 3

I'm not an expert in sentence structure, but I believe 
我想今天吃

has a more focus on the necessity of eating something today, where
今天我想吃

does not have such focus.
As for the case of specific timing, it works the same way. If you add 在 (at) to the sentence
我想(在)八点钟吃早饭

then you are stressing that you want to eat breakfast at 8 o'clock. On the other hand,
(在)八点钟我想吃早饭

does not have such focus. But I have never heard people talk like this way though.


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