F. Le is used for asking and answering questions about how long one has not done something or, in other words, time elapsed since one last did something.

Sentence Pattern:

subject + (adverb) + duration + méi (or méi yǒu 没有) + verb + (object) + le

It is important to note that this pattern places the duration before the verb and uses méi and le in the same sentence.

  1. Wǒ yǐjīng liǎng tiān méi(yǒu) chī fàn le.
    我已经两天没吃饭了。
    I have not eaten for two days.


  2. Tā yǐjīng sān nián méi xué Zhōngwén le.
    他已经三年没学中文了。
    He has not studied Chinese for three years.