"I went running for thirty minutes this morning."

Translation: 早上我跑了三十分钟的步。

[JiazhiGuo]

"我早上跑了三十分钟的步。" is a correct answer too.... we need a better Chinese course. I'm a native Chinese speaker, and I have to say this course is terrible.

[Phillbo]

To be fair to the course makers, I think they just haven't updated all of the correct answers yet, and that's part of the beta testing process which it's currently in. I'm also reporting lots of correct answers that should be accepted, hopefully in a few months they'll all be allowed as long as we keep reporting them. I agree though, it's quite frustrating at the moment.

[Drinc]

Thanks for the alternative answer.

Please direct your valuable feedback to the course admins. It's great to see native speakers testing the course for the benefit of others.

[aznfoodprocessor]

I agree

[KeZhiXin1987]

The answer you provided worked for me. 12-16-17.

[theShmuli]

This is now accepted

[FishTsao]

Agree....It's terrible.

[Dejo]

We learn that 跑步 is running. Why are these characters separated in the sentence?

[richard711603]

I have the same question. I did notice that the characters are split when a duration is between them. Same for 游泳 (you yong), the 游 is used first and the 泳 is used last; 游了三十分钟的泳(swam, 30 minutes of swimming).
Maybe a native speaker can clarify.

[iKaribou]

I'm no native speaker so I might not be 100% correct. Please correct me if you read this and know better.

As far as I know you can't add an adverb or a time complement after a particle verb like 跑步， the qualifier of the action can only be place right after the verb character (跑 in this situation).
apparently a solution to this problem is to put the second verb particle at the end following 的. (sounds familiar, german learners? )

The other way I know (although I don't know if it works here is to reduplicate the verb character like in the sentence 他游泳游得很快

But as I said I'm not sure if 早上我跑步跑了三十分钟 is correct. Does someone know?

[richard711603]

I used an online translation tool. The original answer was 'I ran for 30 minutes this morning'. Your answer above was 'I run for 30 minutes in the morning'. It appears 了 was used to emphasize 'run' and not to mean it was a concluded action.
Every explanation helps. I was only looking at it as vocabulary and not a particle verb. Thank you.

[leowtyx]

跑了三十分钟

Omit the 步 should still be correct

[LukaGovisk]

早上我跑了三十分钟。Should be acceptable in colloquial Chinese

[Cecil164832]

他们忘記了“今天”。 They forgot the "today" part of the sentence (and mark it wrong if you include it).

[richard711603]

The 早上 (morning) implies 'this morning'. It took me awhile to get that you do not have to say '今天早上', you can leave off the 'today'.

[BobBowles1]

I agree it should not be wrong to include 今天. In fact I seem to recall earlier lessons insisting on putting it in, so this exercise threw me a bit to see that 早上 does not so much mean 'in the morning' as 'this morning'.

[Cecil164832]

It isn't wrong to put it in though. It marked me as wrong.

[Comitatensis]

Quick question : although it changes the meaning a bit is it completely wrong to put了 at the end instead of after the verb, to translate the enlish sentence which has no context? My guess is yes but is it?

[richard711603]

It is needed after the verb to show that the action is completed. You finished running so 跑了 is used. Without 了, it means you are still running.

[Comitatensis]

Oh nevermind I forgot a minute that I was translating from English which has "this morning" specified. Sorry about that, I am just currently having an outbreak of stupidity :)

[richard711603]

I am still learning Chinese, so a native speaker would be the expert. However, you can put 了at the end. As I have the same questions, I use an online translation tool to try the various phrases. Your version translated to 'I ran 30 minutes in the morning'. Basically the same meaning.

[Cecil164832]

It is fine.