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  <title>H. Modal particle &lt;span class="pinyin"&gt;le &lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="hanzi"&gt;了 &lt;/span&gt; used to sum up after a series of actions</title>
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  <div class="grisleger">
    H. Modal particle <span class="pinyin">le</span> <span class="hanzi">了</span> used to sum up after a series of actions
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  <p>The modal particle <span class="pinyin">le</span> <span class="hanzi">了</span> can be used in the narration of a past situation to mark the end of a series of actions before going on to a new one. In order to maintain the continuity of the narration, it is used at the end of each series of actions, not after each action within the series. The following example shows how the modal particle <span class="pinyin">le</span> <span class="hanzi">了&#160;</span>marks the end of each series of actions within the bigger picture of what happened after the woman made the phone call.</p>

  <ol>
    <li><audio src="../Audio/lele-IIIH8.1.mp3" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/><span class="pinyin">Tā dǎwán diànhuà, liúxià qián, náqǐ shūbāo, jiù chūqu&#160;<span class="rouge">le</span>. Zǒudào xuéxiào dàménkǒur, tā pèngjiàn Zhāng Měiyīng&#160;<span class="rouge">le</span>. Gēn Xiǎo Zhāng shuō-le yìhuǐr huà, tā jiù qù gōnggòngqìchē-zhàn&#160;<span class="rouge">le</span>. Zǒudào chēzhàn, chē hái méi yǒu lái, tā jiù dào pángbiānr de xiǎo shūdiàn qù mǎi bào. Mǎi-le bào, chē yě lái&#160;<span class="rouge">le</span>, tā jiù shàng chē huí jiā&#160;<span class="rouge">le</span>.</span><br/><br/> <span class="hanzi">她打完电话，留下钱，拿起书包，就出去<span class="encadrevert">了</span>。走到学校大门口儿，她碰见张美英了。跟小张说<span class="encadrevert">了</span>一会儿话，她就去公共汽车站<span class="encadrevert">了</span>。走到车站，车还没有来，她就到旁边儿的小书店去买报。买了报，车也来<span class="encadrevert">了</span>，她就上车回家<span class="encadrevert">了</span>。</span><br/><br/> When she finished the phone call, she left the money, picked up her bag and left. When she got to the school gate, she ran into Meiying Zhang. After taking with her for a little while, she went to the bus stop. When she got to the bus stop, the bus had not arrived, so she went to the little bookstore nearby to buy a newspaper. After she got the paper, the bus came. She got on the bus and went home.<br/><br/> 

    <div class="gris">
      Note that the first modal particle <span class="pinyin">le</span> <span class="hanzi">了</span> marks the end of a series of actions before the woman went out. This series of actions presents a picture of what she did after making the phone call and before she went out. <span class="pinyin">le</span> <span class="hanzi">了</span> may not be used after each action is completed, or it would break the continuity of the narration. The next series of two phrases presents the picture of her going toward the school gate, where the action was stopped by an accidental meeting with a friend. Therefore, the second modal particle is used there to mark the end of that sequence. The third series of actions presents the picture of what happened after she ran into her friend. This series was concluded by her leaving to head for the bus stop. Therefore the third modal particle <span class="pinyin">le</span> <span class="hanzi">了</span> is used. The next series of actions presents the picture of what she did while waiting for the bus. This sequence is concluded with the coming of the bus and was therefore marked by the fourth modal particle <span class="pinyin">le</span> <span class="hanzi">了</span> at the end of <span class="pinyin">lái</span> <span class="hanzi">来</span>. The whole narrative was concluded by her getting on the bus and finally heading home, which was marked by the last modal particle <span class="pinyin">le</span> <span class="hanzi">了</span>.
    </div></li>

    <br/>

    <br/>

    <li><audio src="../Audio/lele-IIIG7.1.mp3" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/><span class="pinyin">Tā dǎwán diànhuà le, liúxià qián le, náqǐ shūbāo le, jiù chūqu&#160;<span class="rouge">le</span>. Zǒudào xuéxiào dàménkǒur le, tā pèngjiàn Zhāng Měiyīng&#160;<span class="rouge">le</span>. Gēn Xiǎo Zhāng shuō-le yìhuǐr huà, tā jiù qù gōnggòngqìchē-zhàn&#160;<span class="rouge">le</span>&#160; Zǒudào chēzhàn le, chē hái méi yǒu lái, tā jiù dào pángbiānr de xiǎo shūdiàn qù mǎi bào le. Mǎi-le bào, chē yě lái&#160;<span class="rouge">le</span>&#160; tā jiù shàng chē huí jiā&#160;<span class="rouge">le</span>&#160;</span> <br/><br/> <span class="hanzi"> 她打完电话<span class="encadrevert">了</span>，留下钱<span class="encadrevert">了</span>，拿起书包<span class="encadrevert">了</span>，就出去<span class="orange">了</span>。走到学校大门口儿<span class="encadrevert">了</span>，她碰见张美英<span class="orange">了</span>。跟小张说了一会儿话，她就去公共汽车站<span class="orange">了</span>。走到车站<span class="encadrevert">了</span>，车还没有来，她就到旁边儿的小书店去买报<span class="encadrevert">了</span>。买了报，车也来<span class="orange">了</span>，她就上车回家<span class="orange">了</span>。</span><br/><br/> 

    <div class="gris">
      The example above shows how the continuity would be broken by using the modal particle <span class="pinyin">le</span> <span class="hanzi">了</span>at the end of each action. Consequently, such narration is unacceptable.
    </div>

    <p>Different languages have their own ways to deal with this problem. The following example shows one of the ways English maintains the continuity of a narrative. Note that in 3 the subject 'she' is not repeated as it is in 4. It shows how one sentence alone is used to present a series of actions, which maintains the flow of ideas. 4, however, repeatedly uses the subject, 'she'. As a result, 4 is broken into many sentences and becomes a poor and unacceptable narrative.</p></li>

    <br/>

    <li>When she finished the phone call, she left the money, picked up her bag and left.</li>

    <br/>

    <li>She finished the phone call. She left the money. She picked up her bag. She left.<br/><br/> 

    <div class="gris">
      “This sense of summing up a situation or bringing a particular topic to a close before going on to a new one by the use of end-of-sentence/clause <span class="pinyin">le</span> <span class="hanzi">了</span> may also be found with nominal comments. Compare the following pairs of sentences:
    </div>

<br/><span class="hanzi"> 

    <audio src="../Audio/lele-IIIH8.1a.mp3" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/>孩子今年五岁。<br/> 

    </span><span class="pinyin">Háizi jīnnián wǔ suì.</span> <br/>The child is 5 years old.<br/> 

    <audio src="../Audio/lele-IIIH8.1b.mp3" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/><span class="hanzi">孩子今年五岁了。<br/></span><span class="pinyin">Háizi jīnnián wǔ suì&#160;<span class="encadrevert">le</span>.&#160;</span><br/>The child is (now) 5 years old.<br/><br/> 

    <audio src="../Audio/lele-IIIH8.1c.mp3" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/><span class="hanzi">今天星期六。<br/></span><span class="pinyin">Jīntiān xīngqī-liù.&#160;</span><br/>It's Saturday today.<br/> 

    <audio src="../Audio/lele-IIIH8.1d.mp3" controls="controls"></audio>

<br/><span class="hanzi">今天星期六了。<br/></span><span class="pinyin">Jīntiān xīngqī-liù&#160;<span class="encadrevert">le</span>.&#160;</span><br/>It's (finally) Saturday today.<br/><br/> 

    <div class="gris">
      The first example of each pair only expresses a fact: 'the child is 5 years old' or 'today is Saturday '. The addition of end-of-sentence <span class="pinyin">le</span> <span class="hanzi">了</span> conveys the sense of eventually reaching the present situation or position: the child is (now) 5, and today is (finally) Saturday.” (Yip Po-Ching and Don Rimmington: 2004, p. 321)
    </div></li>
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