In a negative sentence, the sentence-final 了 (le) can take on the meaning of
"(not) anymore" or "no longer." The word 已经 (yǐjīng), which
means "already," may nor may not accompany
it.
Structure
已经
(yǐjīng) is optional for this pattern, but either 不 (bù) or 没有 (méiyǒu)
will be needed to make the verb negative. The sentence-final 了 (le) is, of course, required.
(已经 +) 不 / 没(有) + [Verb Phrase] + 了
Examples
- 没有 纸 了 。in other words,
"we're out of paper"Méiyǒu zhǐ
le.There's no paper
anymore.
- 手机 没有 电 了 。Shǒujī
méiyǒu diàn le.My cell
phone has run out of power.
- 他 没有 家 了。Tā
méiyǒu jiā le.He
doesn't have his home anymore.
- 我们 都 没有 钱 了 。Wǒmen dōu
méiyǒu qián le.We all
don't have any more money.
- 你 不 喜欢 我 了 吗？Nǐ
bù xǐhuan wǒ le ma?You
don't like me anymore?
- 我 不 想 吃 了 。Wǒ
bù xiǎng chī le.I
don't want to eat anymore.
- 你们 不 能 喝 了 。Nǐmen
bù néng hē le.You
can't drink anymore.
- 我 已经 不 住 这里 了 。Wǒ
yǐjīng bù zhù zhèlǐ le.I don't live here anymore.
- 他 已经 不 在 这儿 工作 了 。Tā
yǐjīng bù zài zhèr gōngzuò le.He doesn't work here anymore.
- 他们 已经 不 在 一起 了 。Tāmen
yǐjīng bù zài yīqǐ le.They are no longer together.
See Also
Sources and further
reading
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Category:
A2 grammar points