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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
Books
- Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (p. 68) →buy
- Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 126-9) →buy
- Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar (pp. 238-99) →buy
- New Practical Chinese Reader 2 (新实用汉语课本2) (pp. 217-8) →buy
- New Practical Chinese Reader 3 (新实用汉语课本3) (pp. 64-5) →buy
- Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (p. 8) →buy
- 40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (基础汉语40课上册） (p. 239)→buy
Websites
- Chinesegrammar.info: Chinese le grammar summary (了)