1. Explain it simply
Chinese has many verb-object compounds - two characters that work as one word: a verb + its object.
Common daily ones: 起床 (get up), 上班 (go to work), 下班 (finish work), 上课 (go to class), 下课 (finish class), 做饭 (cook), 开车 (drive), 读书 (read books), 看病 (see a doctor), 生病 (get sick).
These compounds follow the same grammar as regular verbs - you can add time words, 了, and 在 before them.
2. Show examples
我六点起床。
Wǒ liù diǎn qǐchuáng.
I get up at six.
Time word before the verb-object compound
妈妈在做饭。
Māma zài zuòfàn.
Mom is cooking.
在 before compound = doing it right now
爸爸开车去上班。
Bàba kāichē qù shàngbān.
Dad drives to work.
Two compounds chained together
他生病了。
Tā shēngbìng le.
He got sick.
了 after compound = completed action
3. Where the time word goes
Time always comes BEFORE the action (the verb) - never after it. What changes is whether it sits after or before the subject, and that depends on the kind of time word.
A single time word (六点, 今天, 明天) sits AFTER the subject: 我 + 六点 + 起床 → 我六点起床。
A time clause - a whole little event like 下课了 (once class is over) - names what happens first, so it goes BEFORE the subject: 下课了 + 我们 + 休息 → 下课了我们休息。
Quick check: one word → after the subject; a whole event → before it.
我六点起床。
Wǒ liù diǎn qǐchuáng.
I get up at six.
Single time word (六点) → after the subject
下课了我们休息。
Xiàkè le wǒmen xiūxi.
After class, we rest.
Time clause (下课了, 'once class is over') → before the subject
4. Share a tip
上 and 下 are opposites in many compounds: 上班/下班, 上课/下课, 上学 (go to school). Think of 上 as 'start/go to' and 下 as 'finish/leave'.