Take a step forward
1. Usage of 正在 + Verb (zhèngzài + Verb)
Meaning: Be doing something / Be in the middle of doing something
Context: 正在 emphasizes that an action is in progress at a particular moment.
Structure:
Note: 正在 focuses on an action happening right at that time. It is often used when another event happens while the action is in progress.
- • 有时候，我们正在工作或者学习。
(Sometimes, we are working or studying. / From Text) - • 我正在吃饭，朋友突然给我发了消息。
(I was eating when my friend suddenly sent me a message.) - • 他正在开会，现在不能回复你。
(He is in a meeting, so he cannot reply to you right now.)
2. Usage of 以为…… (yǐwéi…)
Meaning: To think / To assume (often incorrectly)
Context: 以为 is used when someone believes something to be true, but the reality is different from what they thought.
Structure:
Note: 以为 is different from 认为. 认为 simply expresses an opinion or judgment, while 以为 often suggests that the speaker’s original belief was mistaken.
- • 我们在心里想好了怎么回答，就以为自己已经回复了。
(We think about how to answer in our heads and then believe that we have already replied. / From Text) - • 我以为他已经回家了，其实他还在公司。
(I thought he had already gone home, but actually he was still at the office.) - • 我以为今天是星期五，原来今天才星期四。
(I thought today was Friday, but it turns out it’s only Thursday.)
3. Usage of 不是……，而是…… (bú shì… ér shì…)
Meaning: Not… but rather…
Context: 不是……而是…… is used to correct an assumption or contrast two explanations. The first part says what is not true, and the second part gives the real situation.
Structure:
Note: 并不是 can replace 不是 when the speaker wants to make the correction stronger: 并不是 A，而是 B.
- • 有时候不回消息并不是不想理对方，而是真的忘记了。
(Sometimes, not replying is not because we do not want to talk to the other person, but because we genuinely forgot. / From Text) - • 我不是不想回复，而是刚才太忙了。
(It’s not that I didn’t want to reply; I was just too busy.) - • 他不是没有看到消息，而是不知道怎么回答。
(It’s not that he didn’t see the message; he didn’t know how to reply.)