<p>I am a bit confused by the 在 in your example sentence, since you don't need it there, <code>我不在8点起床，我(在?)9点起床。</code> Frankly, I wouldn't know what this sentence was supposed to mean, if you hadn't provided a translation. If you want to express that something occures at a certain time of the day, e.g. X o'clock, there is no need for 在, just use X点 or X点钟.</p>
<p>As for the proper way:</p>
<pre><code>我不是8点起床，我9点起床。
</code></pre>
<p>不是 can be used for such cases, to negate a certain aspect and then to point out the correct aspect immediately afterwards. E.g.</p>
<p>我不是骑车上班，我坐出租车上班。 I do not ride the bicyle to work, I take a taxi.</p>
<p><strong>EDIT:</strong>
I can still recall the first time I had learned this 不是 structure and I was confused by it since it sounded odd to me. To get an idea of the difference between 我8点不起床。 and 我不是8点起床。, you have to understand that the first sentence simplay <em>negates the whole statment,</em> while the latter sentence <em>negates only the aspect</em> that is immediately after 不是.</p>
<p>The given translation in this answer is an example of the <a href="http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Uses_of_%22shi..._de%22#The_Classic_.E6.98.AF.E2.80.A6.E2.80.A6.E7.9A.84_Construction" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;是...的&quot; pattern</a> for emphasizing a particular aspect of a phrase. It is not specific to time; for instance:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>我不是跟朋友吃晚饭的，我是跟爸爸妈妈吃晚饭的.</p>
<p>I didn't eat with <em>my friends</em>, I ate with my <em>parents</em>.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-11T01:36:01.193Z
Apart from my question of time, once I had a native Chinese speaker saying that he felt that when you negate the first clause of the sentence you end up negating the whole sentence without any "special marking".
Compare: 我不在学校跟我同学一起学习汉语。I don't study Chinese with my classmate at school. (neutral negation)
我在学校不跟我同学一起学习汉语。I study Chinese at school not with my classmate (but with someone else).
我在学校跟我同学不学习汉语。I don't study (I do something else) with my classmate at school.
Do you agree with his opinion?
Cheers
Enrico Brasil
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-11T12:06:17.763Z
@EnricoBrasil
More or less correct. But 不学习汉语 is too long, use 不学汉语 or 学汉语 if you are not negating.
imrek
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-12T13:24:05.087Z
What's not correct? How do you perceive the difference between the 3 sentences?
Enrico Brasil
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-03-07T18:19:15.683Z
@EnricoBrasil, it is true that negating 在 could be misunderstood as negating the whole sentence rather than only the clause that  在 precedes. This is why we use 是 as a coverb. The function of 是 as a coverb is similar to that of the meaningless "do" in English. We use "do" in English not to add any meaning to a sentence but rather to either emphasize or negate a verb. Same as 是：
我在学校跟同学学汉语=I at school with my friends study Chinese. 
我是在学校跟同学学汉语 = I [emphatic] at school with... 
我在学校是跟同学...=I at school [emphatic] with...
Negating 是 in any of those to negates only the clause that 是 precedes.
Buddy L
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-10T19:35:10.607Z
2014-12-15T23:31:27.067Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
imrek
<p>I know we can negate place, manner, etc. by just placing a 不 before the verbs (prepositions) that introduce the clauses.</p>

<p>我<strong>不在</strong>中国工作。<br>
他<strong>不坐</strong>车去工作。</p>

<p>But how can I negate time, since it doesn't have a verb/preposition before it?<br>
For example: I wake up not at 8am, but at 9am.<br>
Would I have to place a 在 before the time?</p>

<p>我<strong>不在</strong>8点起床，我(在?)9点起床。</p>

<p>Would this be the only mandatory 在 when we talk about time or are there other situations it's required?</p>

<p>Thank you for any help!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-10T17:49:39.403Z
I would just say 我8点没起床, 我是9点起来的. But then again there are many ways to say that one sentence. You can also say 我8点不起床, 我9点起床. I have only completed elementary school in China, so I don't know the in and outs of grammar, but both ways I have listed makes sense to me.
Huangism
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-10T19:26:33.490Z
@Huangism Thank you for your answer, but I think my example wasn't exactly was I was trying to say, and I just edited it (I wake up not at 8am, but at 9am.) When I read your sentences I have a feeling that you are negating 起床 not 8点. What do you think about the translation of the new example?
Enrico Brasil
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-10T19:34:50.317Z
I personally would translate that to 我8点不起床, 我9点起床. Again, my chinese isn't the best so I don't know 100% which way to say this is grammatically correct. However, I find it best to learn a language through conversing/watching tv/listening to radio. Basically that gives you the chance to learn how the locals talk. I asked my wife how to say this, she is much better at Mandarin than I am
Huangism
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-10T19:36:17.517Z
My wife says it should be 我不是8点起床，我9点起床。So instead of 在, use 是, as Drunken Master have it in his answer. It's posted at the same time as this comment
Huangism
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-10T19:37:08.097Z
@Huangism Your wife is right, check also my answer.
imrek
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-10T21:17:32.853Z
Consider this situation - answering the question "你在8点起床吗？", then "我不在8点起床，我(在)9点起床。" will sound very natural. The key is which part to emphasize. Generally, "我不是8点起床", you state a status/habit: you are not "8点起床". But "我不在8点起床", what you emphasize is the time.
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-11T02:17:34.340Z
Is there any situation when 在 is mandatory before time?
Enrico Brasil
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-11T06:42:56.693Z
我起床时间不是8点，而是9点. More idiomatic, and obviates any confusions.
Wang Dingwei
<grammar><preposition><negation><time>
How can I negate time and when to place 在 before time?
# How can I negate time and when to place 在 before time?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-12-10)

I know we can negate place, manner, etc. by just placing a 不 before the verbs (prepositions) that introduce the clauses.

我**不在**中国工作。  
他**不坐**车去工作。

But how can I negate time, since it doesn't have a verb/preposition before it?  
For example: I wake up not at 8am, but at 9am.  
Would I have to place a 在 before the time?

我**不在**8点起床，我(在?)9点起床。

Would this be the only mandatory 在 when we talk about time or are there other situations it's required?

Thank you for any help!

**Tags:** grammar, preposition, negation, time

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I would just say 我8点没起床, 我是9点起来的. But then again there are many ways to say that one sentence. You can also say 我8点不起床, 我9点起床. I have only completed elementary school in China, so I don't know the in and outs of grammar, but both ways I have listed makes sense to me.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Thank you for your answer, but I think my example wasn't exactly was I was trying to say, and I just edited it (I wake up not at 8am, but at 9am.) When I read your sentences I have a feeling that you are negating 起床 not 8点. What do you think about the translation of the new example?  
> **username_1**: I personally would translate that to 我8点不起床, 我9点起床. Again, my chinese isn't the best so I don't know 100% which way to say this is grammatically correct. However, I find it best to learn a language through conversing/watching tv/listening to radio. Basically that gives you the chance to learn how the locals talk. I asked my wife how to say this, she is much better at Mandarin than I am  
> **username_1**: My wife says it should be 我不是8点起床，我9点起床。So instead of 在, use 是, as Drunken Master have it in his answer. It's posted at the same time as this comment  
> **username_2**: @username_1 Your wife is right, check also my answer.  
> **username_3**: Consider this situation - answering the question "你在8点起床吗？", then "我不在8点起床，我(在)9点起床。" will sound very natural. The key is which part to emphasize. Generally, "我不是8点起床", you state a status/habit: you are not "8点起床". But "我不在8点起床", what you emphasize is the time.  
> **username_0**: Is there any situation when 在 is mandatory before time?  
> **username_4**: 我起床时间不是8点，而是9点. More idiomatic, and obviates any confusions.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-12-10. Score: 4

I am a bit confused by the 在 in your example sentence, since you don't need it there, `我不在8点起床，我(在?)9点起床。` Frankly, I wouldn't know what this sentence was supposed to mean, if you hadn't provided a translation. If you want to express that something occures at a certain time of the day, e.g. X o'clock, there is no need for 在, just use X点 or X点钟.

As for the proper way:

```
我不是8点起床，我9点起床。

```

不是 can be used for such cases, to negate a certain aspect and then to point out the correct aspect immediately afterwards. E.g.

我不是骑车上班，我坐出租车上班。 I do not ride the bicyle to work, I take a taxi.

**EDIT:**
I can still recall the first time I had learned this 不是 structure and I was confused by it since it sounded odd to me. To get an idea of the difference between 我8点不起床。 and 我不是8点起床。, you have to understand that the first sentence simplay *negates the whole statment,* while the latter sentence *negates only the aspect* that is immediately after 不是.

The given translation in this answer is an example of the ["是...的" pattern](http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Uses_of_%22shi..._de%22#The_Classic_.E6.98.AF.E2.80.A6.E2.80.A6.E7.9A.84_Construction) for emphasizing a particular aspect of a phrase. It is not specific to time; for instance:

> 我不是跟朋友吃晚饭的，我是跟爸爸妈妈吃晚饭的.
>
> I didn't eat with *my friends*, I ate with my *parents*.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Apart from my question of time, once I had a native Chinese speaker saying that he felt that when you negate the first clause of the sentence you end up negating the whole sentence without any "special marking". Compare: 我不在学校跟我同学一起学习汉语。I don't study Chinese with my classmate at school. (neutral negation) 我在学校不跟我同学一起学习汉语。I study Chinese at school not with my classmate (but with someone else). 我在学校跟我同学不学习汉语。I don't study (I do something else) with my classmate at school. Do you agree with his opinion? Cheers  
> **username_2**: @username_0 More or less correct. But 不学习汉语 is too long, use 不学汉语 or 学汉语 if you are not negating.  
> **username_0**: What's not correct? How do you perceive the difference between the 3 sentences?  
> **username_5**: @username_0, it is true that negating 在 could be misunderstood as negating the whole sentence rather than only the clause that  在 precedes. This is why we use 是 as a coverb. The function of 是 as a coverb is similar to that of the meaningless "do" in English. We use "do" in English not to add any meaning to a sentence but rather to either emphasize or negate a verb. Same as 是： 我在学校跟同学学汉语=I at school with my friends study Chinese.  我是在学校跟同学学汉语 = I [emphatic] at school with...  我在学校是跟同学...=I at school [emphatic] with... Negating 是 in any of those to negates only the clause that 是 precedes.  

---

