「一VP」常於偏正結構「一VP1就VP2」用做後接事件(VP2)的「參考時間」(reference time)(Reichenbach 1947)；此外「一VP」也包含一個事件，並由時間副詞「一」傳達完成體概念：完成事件中某個臨界點。據此，凡事件結構帶有「端點」(張麗麗、陳克健與黃居仁1999)的動詞都可進入「一VP」；惟狀態動詞若擔任「恆態謂語」(individual predicate)(如：快樂等)，則因事件結構不具有可完成的端點故無法成立，「暫態謂語」(stage-level predicate)(如：高興等)則無此問題。「一VP」也可用於句末，惟「一」則用以計量「事件論元」(event argument)(Davidson 1967)，與前述非結句情況不同。從歷時發展來看，原用做數詞的「一」受到「一VP」與後接VP的關係由並列轉作偏正所致，並受到：1. 推論2. 類推3. 重新分析等機制影響進而語法化(grammaticalization)(Hopper and Traugott 2003)為時間副詞。

This paper aims to investigate the ‘一VP’ construction in Mandarin Chinese. ‘一VP’ is usually found in the co-subordination structure ‘一VP1 就 VP2’ and serves as the reference time of VP2. Besides, ‘一VP’ also refers to an event and ‘一’ serves as an adverb of time denoting completion. The ‘一VP’ construction is incompatible with individual-level predicates such as 快樂 but compatible with stage-level predicates such as 高興 since individual-level predicates do not contain time points. The construction ‘一VP’ can occur in the sentence-final position, e.g. 值得一提; however, in this case ‘一’ is used to calculate the event argument. Lastly, the numeral ‘一’ undergoes grammaticalization from a numeral to an adverb of time. Three mechanisms are involved in the change in addition to subjectivity and intersubjectivity: (1) inference, (2) analogy and (3) reanalysis.