正在 as a Progressive: 9 Bible Clauses
Answering: “how to say in the middle of doing something”
Updated 2026-09-26 · plain text · JSON
正在 marks an action in progress. In the 和合本 nearly every 正在 is instead locative 在 — 正在律法之下, 'under the law' — and ongoing action is carried by 着 or by the bare verb.
- HSK level
- 1
- derived from its own words
- In the Bible
- 9
- clauses
- Meet it first in
- Genesis
- where it is commonest
- How sure
- Counted
- every match was read
Practise it
Tap the words that carry the pattern.
。 ，； — 。
The same verses, in full
Easiest first: ranked by how much of each verse sits at or below HSK 1, the point’s own level. Colours are tones. Nothing here was written for the page — every line is in the text.
他tā叫jiào他们tā men的de罪孽zuì niè归guī到dào他们tā men身上shēn shang。 他们tā men正在zhèng zài行háng恶è之中zhī zhōng，他tā要yào剪除jiǎn chú他们tā men； 耶和华yē hé huá—我们wǒ men的de 神shén要yào把bǎ他们tā men剪除jiǎn chú。
He has brought on them their own iniquity, and will cut them off in their own wickedness. The LORD, our God, will cut them off.
Psalms 94:23 · 65% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
正在zhèng zài猜疑cāi yí之间zhī jiān，忽然hū rán有yǒu两liǎng个人gè rén站zhàn在zài旁边páng biān，衣服yī fu放fàng光guāng。
While they were greatly perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling clothing.
Luke 24:4 · 62% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
到dào第dì三sān天tiān，众人zhòng rén正在zhèng zài疼痛téng tòng的de时候shí hou，雅各yǎ gè的de两liǎng个gè儿子ér zi，就是jiù shì底拿dǐ ná的de哥哥gē ge西缅xī miǎn和hé利未lì wèi，各gè拿ná刀剑dāo jiàn，趁chèn着zhe众人zhòng rén想不到xiǎng bú dào的de时候shí hou来到lái dào城中chéng zhōng，把bǎ一切yí qiè男丁nán dīng都dōu杀shā了le，
On the third day, when they were sore, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword, came upon the unsuspecting city, and killed all the males.
Genesis 34:25 · 55% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
要yào给gěi我们wǒ men擒qín拿ná狐狸hú li， 就是jiù shì毁坏huǐ huài葡萄园pú tao yuán的de小xiǎo狐狸hú li， 因为yīn wèi我们wǒ men的de葡萄pú tao正在zhèng zài开花kāi huā。
Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that plunder the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom.
Song of Solomon 2:15 · 50% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
彼得bǐ dé心里xīn li正在zhèng zài猜疑cāi yí之间zhī jiān，不知bù zhī所suǒ看见kàn jiàn的de异象yì xiàng是shì什么shén me意思yì si。哥gē尼ní流liú所suǒ差chāi来lái的de人rén已经yǐ jīng访问fǎng wèn到dào西门xī mén的de家jiā，站zhàn在zài门外mén wài，
Now while Peter was very perplexed in himself what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood before the gate,
Acts 10:17 · 50% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
但dàn这些zhè xiē人rén好像hǎo xiàng没有méi yǒu灵性líng xìng，生来shēng lái就是jiù shì畜类chù lèi，以yǐ备bèi捉拿zhuō ná宰杀zǎi shā的de。他们tā men毁谤huǐ bàng所suǒ不bù晓得xiǎo de的de事shì，正在zhèng zài败坏bài huài人rén的de时候shí hou，自己zì jǐ必bì遭遇zāo yù败坏bài huài。
But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed,
2 Peter 2:12 · 40% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
Go and meet it in the text
- Read Psalms 94 — where the first example above comes from, with every word tappable.
- The rest of HSK 1 grammar — the other points at this level, with their counts.
- The HSK 1 word deck — the vocabulary side, ordered by how often the Bible uses it.
What the Bible does with it
正在 is the textbook progressive: 正在开花, is in blossom. It appears in this translation, but rarely, and it is outnumbered even among its own occurrences by a different thing that looks identical — 正在律法之下, under the law, where 正 is just so and 在 is the ordinary preposition.
The Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified) uses 正在 57 times. 48 of those occurrences are the same words doing something else.
Every match was read rather than sampled, so this is a count. Ongoing action in the Chinese Bible is usually carried instead by the durative 着 on the verb, or by nothing at all: 的时候, when, plus a bare verb does most of the work that a European language would give to a continuous tense.
It is commonest in Genesis, with 3 of them, and 45% of all of them fall in the Old Testament — which is mostly a statement about length, since the Old Testament is the longer part of the book.
| Word | Reading | HSK | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|
| 正在 | zhèng zài | 1 | 57 |
The HSK column is the level data/dict.json gives the word, and it is what puts this point at level 1.
| Occurrences | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| the construction | 9 | 16% |
| the same words doing something else | 48 | 84% |
| Word | Reading | HSK | Occurrences | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 在 | zài | 1 | 11,604 | the plain locative, which is what most 正在 spans are |
| 着 | zhe | 1 | 1,876 | the durative suffix on the verb |
| 正 | zhèng | 1 | 183 | 'just then', before a verb |
The candidates are chosen by hand; the counts are measured, and a candidate the corpus cannot illustrate with a real verse is left out. No claim is made that they are interchangeable.
| Clause | Is it the construction? | Why not |
|---|---|---|
| 【正在败坏】人的时候 | yes | |
| 彼得心里【正在猜疑】之间 | yes | |
| 那人【正在称为】所罗门的廊下 | no | 正在 is locative here — 'is at', not 'is in the middle of' |
| 【正在倾覆】罗得所住之城的时候 | yes | |
| 雅各的大腿窝【正在摔跤】的时候就扭了 | yes | |
| 众人【正在疼痛】的时候 | yes | |
| 众人【正在听见】这些话的时候 | yes | |
| 【正在猜疑】之间 | yes | |
| 我【正在两难】之间 | no | 正在 is locative here — 'is at', not 'is in the middle of' |
| 他们【正在行】恶之中 | yes | |
| 因为我们的葡萄【正在开花】 | yes |
The whole population, not a sample — which is why the count above is a count and not an estimate.
Counted — every match was checked
The rule: 正在 immediately before a word with a verb sense. Where 正在 is locative (正在律法之下) a noun follows instead.
All 11 matches were read in context; 9 are the construction. Checked by Claude Opus 5, reading each sampled clause in context; not a native speaker. Recall is not measured: this is what the rule finds, not everything the translation contains.
This point is HSK 1 because that is the highest HSK level of the point's own function words, as data/dict.json grades them; a word the HSK lists do not grade sends the point to 'beyond'.
Questions
- How does the Bible say while something was happening?
- Usually with …的时候 — at the time when — wrapped around a plain verb, sometimes with 正 alone in front of it. The construction is a frame around the clause rather than a mark on the verb.
- How often does it occur in the Chinese Bible?
- 9 clauses in the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified), out of 57 occurrences of the words that mark it.
- Which book of the Bible uses it most?
- Genesis, with 3 — followed by Acts (2), Luke (2), 2 Peter (1).
- How do you know the count is right?
- Every one of the 11 clauses the rule found was read: 9 are the construction and the rest are something else. This is a count, not an estimate.
Related reference pages
Take it further
- 97 ready-made vocabulary decks — by HSK level, by book or by topic, exportable to Anki, Pleco or Quizlet.
- Printable 田字格 worksheets — passages with pinyin, meanings and tracing rows.
- The parallel reader — Chinese, pinyin and your own language side by side, every word tappable.
- The dataset behind these numbers — plain JSON, free to reuse with attribution.
How this was measured
Edition: Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified). Every figure comes from one pass over all 1,189 chapters and 31,021 verses, 650,628word tokens in total, using the site’s own segmentation. A construction count is published only when a hand-checked sample of the rule that found it was at least 90% correct; between 70% and that it is published as an approximation, and below it no count is published at all. Generated 2026-09-26.