<p>Both sentences are correct, with a slight difference in the parsing.</p>
<p>我的手机从前天开始就不能上网了。</p>
<p>Starting the day before yesterday, my cell-phone couldn't get onto the internet.</p>
<p>Here, 开始 is part of the time phrase 前天开始.</p>
<p>我的手机前天就开始不能上网了。</p>
<p>My cell-phone started to fail to get onto the internet on the day before yesterday.</p>
<p>开始 is part of the verb phrase.</p>
<p>Having said this, I also agree with the comment that this sentence is a bit verbose.</p>
<p>I would probably say: 我的手机前天就不能上网了。</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-08T18:26:36.170Z
2021-07-08T18:26:36.170Z
monalisa
<p>I have this sentence:</p>
<p>您好，我的手机从前天开始就不能上网了。</p>
<p>Normally I've seen 就 come after the time noun, so I'm wondering why this sentence isn't:</p>
<p>您好，我的手机前天就开始不能上网了。</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-08T13:28:10.610Z
"开始", is unnecessary in the sentence, should be eliminated to make the sentence more clear.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-08T22:27:19.350Z
@r13 I don't see why eliminating 开始 makes the sentence "more" clear. With 开始，the sentence is clearer about the starting point. Usually, speakers want to be clearer/emphatic to clarify the exact starting point by adding 开始 in the sentences like the OP's.
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-08T23:30:57.697Z
@dan 就不䏻 means already can not.  就"开始"不䏻 = already "begin" can not. Here, "begin" is clearly redundant, The addition made the sentence difficult to make a good arrangement of word sequence, also difficult to speak, and unclear to the listener.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-09T01:32:32.737Z
@r13 Maybe it's regional.  I don't feel the sentence is difficult to speak or unclear to listeners. To me: There's a slight difference between 我的手机前天就开始不能上网了 and 我的手机前天就不能上网了.  我的手机前天就开始不能上网了 means it starts from 前天, while我的手机前天就不能上网了 means I realized the phone didn't work thr day before yesterday, not necessarily starting from yesterday.
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-09T23:56:24.527Z
@dan I would agree that 前天就 is a good descriptive phrase for indicating a specific time frame, but again, 开始 is redundant, though I wouldn't say it is wrong. My simple advice for language learners is to avoid long sentences with redundant words and unnecessary descriptions. It is not regional but universal, often you can relate to your native language. Good luck and have fun learning Chinese.
r13
<grammar>
Placement of 就 after time nouns
# Placement of 就 after time nouns

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-07-08)

I have this sentence:

您好，我的手机从前天开始就不能上网了。

Normally I've seen 就 come after the time noun, so I'm wondering why this sentence isn't:

您好，我的手机前天就开始不能上网了。

**Tags:** grammar
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: "开始", is unnecessary in the sentence, should be eliminated to make the sentence more clear.  
> **username_2**: @r13 I don't see why eliminating 开始 makes the sentence "more" clear. With 开始，the sentence is clearer about the starting point. Usually, speakers want to be clearer/emphatic to clarify the exact starting point by adding 开始 in the sentences like the OP's.  
> **username_1**: @dan 就不䏻 means already can not.  就"开始"不䏻 = already "begin" can not. Here, "begin" is clearly redundant, The addition made the sentence difficult to make a good arrangement of word sequence, also difficult to speak, and unclear to the listener.  
> **username_2**: @r13 Maybe it's regional.  I don't feel the sentence is difficult to speak or unclear to listeners. To me: There's a slight difference between 我的手机前天就开始不能上网了 and 我的手机前天就不能上网了.  我的手机前天就开始不能上网了 means it starts from 前天, while我的手机前天就不能上网了 means I realized the phone didn't work thr day before yesterday, not necessarily starting from yesterday.  
> **username_1**: @dan I would agree that 前天就 is a good descriptive phrase for indicating a specific time frame, but again, 开始 is redundant, though I wouldn't say it is wrong. My simple advice for language learners is to avoid long sentences with redundant words and unnecessary descriptions. It is not regional but universal, often you can relate to your native language. Good luck and have fun learning Chinese.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2021-07-08. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Both sentences are correct, with a slight difference in the parsing.

我的手机从前天开始就不能上网了。

Starting the day before yesterday, my cell-phone couldn't get onto the internet.

Here, 开始 is part of the time phrase 前天开始.

我的手机前天就开始不能上网了。

My cell-phone started to fail to get onto the internet on the day before yesterday.

开始 is part of the verb phrase.

Having said this, I also agree with the comment that this sentence is a bit verbose.

I would probably say: 我的手机前天就不能上网了。


---

