Based on the notion of conceptualization in cognitive linguistics, this paper attempts to make a contrastive study of the different ways of conceptualizing actions and time demonstrated by the Chinese and English languages. There are two main points that have been observed by this paper: (1) the way of conceptualization of actions expressed by quite a number of Chinese verbs assumes the trait of bidirectionality and reversibility, while the English way of conceptualiztion is unidirectional and irreversible; (2) the method that Chinese people employ in conceptualizing time exhibits the characteristic of bidimensional spatiality, while that used by the English nation shows the feature of unidimensional linearity. What the paper holds is that the root cause of the above-mentioned discrepancies between Chinese and English might be ascribed to the Chinese people’s emphasis on spatiality and the English people’s preference for temporality.