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- <h1>Expressing completion with "<span class="pinyinst">le</span>" "<span class="hanzi">了</span>"</h1>
- <p>The particle <span class="hanzi">了</span> (<span class="pinyin">le</span>) has a lot of uses. One of the most common is to express the completion of an action. This is called <b>aspect</b>, 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.</p>
- <h2 id="basic-pattern">Basic Pattern</h2>
- <p>To indicate completeness with <span class="hanzi">了</span> (<span class="pinyin">le</span>), the structure is:</p>
- <div class="deux">
- <p>Subj. + Verb + <span class="hanzist">了</span> + Obj.</p>
- </div>
- <p>Notice that <span class="hanzi">了</span> (<span class="pinyin">le</span>) goes directly after the verb. This <span class="hanzi">了</span> (<span class="pinyin">le</span>) is called verb <span class="hanzi">了</span> (<span class="pinyin">le</span>) or <span class="hanzi">了</span>1.</p>
- <h2 id="examples">Examples</h2>
- <div class="exemple">
- <ul>
- <li><span class="hanzi">你 今天 早上 吃 了 什么？</span><br/> <span class="pinyin">Nǐ jīntiān zǎoshang chī le shénme?</span><br/> What did you eat this morning?</li>
- <li><span class="hanzi">他 买 了 一个 新 手机。</span><br/> <span class="pinyin">Tā mǎi le yī gè xīn shǒujī.</span><br/> He bought a new cell phone.</li>
- <li><span class="hanzi">昨天 晚上 我 看见 了 UFO。</span> <br/><span class="pinyin">Zuótiān wǎnshang wǒ kànjiàn le UFO.</span><br/> I saw a UFO last night.</li>
- <li><span class="hanzi">我 学 了 两 年 中文。</span><br/><span class="pinyin">Wǒ xué le liǎng nián Zhōngwén.</span><br/> I studied Chinese for two years.</li>
- <li><span class="hanzi">今年 夏天 我 跟 我 男朋友 去 了 台湾。</span> <br/><span class="pinyin">Jīnnián xiàtiān wǒ gēn wǒ nánpéngyou qù le Táiwān.</span> <br/>I went to Taiwan with my boyfriend this summer.</li>
- </ul>
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- <p>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:</p>
- <div class="exemple">
- <ul>
- <li><span class="hanzi">你 到 了 告诉 我。</span><br/><span class="vert">future action</span><br/> <span class="pinyin">Nǐ dào le gàosu wǒ.</span><br/> When you have arrived, tell me.</li>
- <li><span class="hanzi">老板 走 了 以后， 你们 可以 走。</span><br/> <span class="vert">future action</span><br/><span class="pinyin"> Lǎobǎn zǒu le yǐhòu, nǐmen kěyǐ zǒu.</span> <br/>After the boss has left, you may leave.</li>
- <li><span class="hanzi">你 找到 了 以后 ， 给 我 打 电话。</span><br/><span class="vert">future action</span><br/><span class="pinyin"> Nǐ zhǎodào le yǐhòu, gěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà.</span> <br/>After you have found it, give me a call.</li>
- <li><span class="hanzi">你们 吃 了 饭 以后 ， 可以 出去 。</span> <br/><span class="vert">future action</span><br/><span class="pinyin"> Nǐmen chī le fàn yǐhòu, kěyǐ chūqù.</span> <br/>After you have eaten your food, you can go out.</li>
- <li><span class="hanzi">下 了 课 以后 ，我 要 问 老师 一些 问题。</span><br/><span class="vert">future action</span><br/><span class="pinyin"> Xià le kè yǐhòu, wǒ yào wèn lǎoshī yīxiē wèntí.</span><br/> After class is over, I need to ask the teacher a few questions.</li>
- </ul>
- </div>
- <p>As you can see, <span class="hanzi">了</span> (<span class="pinyin">le</span>) 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 <span class="hanzi">了</span> (<span class="pinyin">le</span>) isn't used with habitual or continuous actions.</p>
- <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
- <ul>
- <li><a href="Expressing_experiences_with_verbs" title="wikilink">Expressing experiences with verbs</a></li>
- <li><a href="Uses_of_"le"" title="wikilink">Uses of "le"</a></li>
- <li><a href="Using_"guo"_with_"le"" title="wikilink">Using "guo" with "le"</a></li>
- </ul>
- <h2 id="sources-and-further-reading">Sources and further reading</h2>
- <h3 id="books">Books</h3>
- <ul>
- <li>Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (pp. 65-8)</li>
- <li>Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 57-9)</li>
- <li>Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 137-9, 208)</li>
- <li>Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 11-4)</li>
- <li>Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar (pp. 185-217)</li>
- <li>New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (<span class="hanzi">新实用汉语课本1</span>) (pp. 199-200)</li>
- <li>>New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (<span class="hanzi">新实用汉语课本1</span>)(2nd ed) (pp. 226-8)</li>
- <li>New Practical Chinese Reader 2 (<span class="hanzi">新实用汉语课本2</span>) (pp. 16-8)</li>
- <li>40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (<span class="hanzi">基础汉语40课上册</span>） (pp. 156-7)</li>
- </ul>
- <h3 id="websites">Websites</h3>
- <ul>
- <li>Yale: <a href="http://comet.cls.yale.edu/mandarin/content/Lele/grammar/Lele.htm">The Perfective –Le了 Versus The Modal Particle Le了</a></li>
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