The particle 了 (le) has a lot of uses. One of the most common is to
express the completion of an action. This is called aspect, which is not the same as
tense. Tense is about when an action happens: past,
present or future. Aspect is about whether the action is
complete in a certain time frame.
Basic Pattern
To indicate completeness with 了 (le), the structure is:
Notice that 了 (le) goes directly after the verb. This 了 (le) is
called verb 了 (le) or 了1.
Examples
- 你 今天 早上 吃 了 什么？ Nǐ jīntiān
zǎoshang chī le shénme? What
did you eat this morning?
- 他 买 了 一个 新 手机。 Tā mǎi le
yī gè xīn shǒujī.He bought a new cell
phone.
- 昨天 晚上 我 看见 了 UFO。 Zuótiān
wǎnshang wǒ kànjiàn le UFO.I
saw a UFO last night.
- 我 学 了 两 年 中文。Wǒ xué le
liǎng nián Zhōngwén. I studied Chinese
for two years.
- 今年 夏天 我 跟 我 男朋友 去 了 台湾。 Jīnnián
xiàtiān wǒ gēn wǒ nánpéngyou qù le
Táiwān.I went to Taiwan with my
boyfriend this summer.
The examples above indicate a completed action, but they might
also seem very similar to a "past tense" in English. To illustrate
that 了 (le) can also indicate that one action is completed before
another, see the following examples:
- 你 到 了 告诉 我。future
actionNǐ dào le gàosu
wǒ.When you have arrived, tell
me.
- 老板 走 了 以后， 你们 可以 走。 future actionLǎobǎn zǒu le yǐhòu, nǐmen kěyǐ
zǒu.After the boss has left, you may
leave.
- 你 找到 了 以后 ， 给 我 打 电话。future actionNǐ
zhǎodào le yǐhòu, gěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà.After you have found it, give me a call.
- 你们 吃 了 饭 以后 ， 可以 出去 。 future actionNǐmen chī le fàn yǐhòu, kěyǐ
chūqù.After you have eaten your food,
you can go out.
- 下 了 课 以后 ，我 要 问 老师 一些 问题。future actionXià
le kè yǐhòu, wǒ yào wèn lǎoshī yīxiē
wèntí.After class is over, I need to ask
the teacher a few questions.
As you can see, 了 (le) can appear in sentences about the future
as well as the past. What's important is whether or not the action
has been completed, no matter what time frame we're
talking about. This also means that this 了 (le) isn't used with
habitual or continuous actions.
See also
Sources and further
reading
Books
Websites
Category:A2 grammar points