ChineseGrammarWiki/MD/A2/64.mw.html

<p>Whether you need to express how long you lived somewhere, how long you studied astrophysics, or how long you worked as a mime, you'll need to use 了 (le) to express that time duration.</p>
<h2 id="basic-usage">Basic Usage</h2>
<h3 id="structure">Structure</h3>
<p>Saying <em>how long</em> you did something <em>for</em> in Chinese can seem tricky, as there is no preposition as in English. Instead it's all about word order:</p>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>Subj. + Verb + 了 + Duration + Obj.</p>
</div>
<p>So 了 (le) is placed after the verb (to indicate that <a href="Expressing_completion_with_&quot;le&quot;" title="wikilink">the action is completed</a>), followed by the duration. This is how you talk about the duration of completed actions.</p>
<h3 id="examples">Examples</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>他 学 了 <em>一 年</em> 中文。<span class="pinyin">Tā xué le <em>yī nián</em> Zhōngwén.</span><span class="trans">He studied Chinese for a year.</span></li>
<li>我 看 了 <em> 一 个 晚上</em> 书。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ kàn le <em> yī gè wǎnshang</em> shū.</span><span class="trans">I read books all evening.</span></li>
<li>妈妈 看 了 <em>一 天</em> 电视。<span class="pinyin">Māma kàn le <em>yī tiān</em> diànshì.</span><span class="trans">Mom watched TV all day.</span></li>
<li>他 在 Google 做 了 <em>八 年</em> 经理。 <span class="pinyin">Tā zài Google zuò le <em>bā nián</em> jīnglǐ.</span><span class="trans">He worked as a manager at Google for eight years.</span></li>
<li>我们 坐 了 <em>十五 个 小时</em> 飞机 去 美国。<span class="pinyin">Wǒmen zuò le <em> shíwǔ gè xiǎoshí</em> fēijī qù Měiguó.</span><span class="trans">We took a fifteen hour flight to the United States.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="to-express-definitely-concluded">To Express &quot;Definitely Concluded&quot;</h2>
<h3 id="structure-1">Structure</h3>
<p>Note that the previous pattern can be used to express the duration of completed actions <em>which are no longer in progress</em>, although strictly speaking, it's not entirely clear if the actions are still ongoing or not. To indicate that the actions are definitely concluded (not ongoing), a <a href="Time_words_and_word_order" title="wikilink">time word</a> may be inserted into the sentence to indicate that you're talking about an event in the past:</p>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>Subj. + [Time Word] + Verb + 了 + Duration + Obj.</p>
</div>
<h3 id="examples-1">Examples</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>昨天 他 写 了 <em> 一 天</em> 作业。<span class="pinyin">Zuótiān tā xiě le <em>yī tiān</em> zuòyè.</span><span class="trans"> He did his homework all day yesterday.</span></li>
<li>我 刚才 打 了 <em>半 个 小时</em> 电话。 <span class="pinyin">Wǒ gāngcái dǎ le <em>bàn gè xiǎoshí</em> diànhuà.</span><span class="trans">I was on the phone for half an hour.</span></li>
<li>他 今天 喝 了 <em>一 个 晚上</em> 酒。 <span class="pinyin">Tā jīntiān hē le <em>yī gè wǎnshang</em> jiǔ.</span><span class="trans">He drank alcohol all night.</span></li>
<li>我 昨天 玩 了 <em> 一 个 下午</em> 游戏。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ zuótiān wán le <em>yī gè xiàwǔ</em> yóuxì.</span><span class="trans">Yesterday, I played games all afternoon.</span></li>
<li>上 个 周末 我 和 老公 开 了 <em>三 个 小时</em> 车 回 老家。<span class="pinyin">Shàng gè zhōumò wǒ hé lǎogōng kāi le <em>sān gè xiǎoshí</em> chē huí lǎojiā.</span><span class="trans">Last weekend, my husband and I drove three hours to our hometown.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<p>To indicate that the action is <em>definitely still in progress</em>, use a <a href="Expressing_ongoing_duration_with_double_&quot;le&quot;" title="wikilink">slightly different pattern</a>.</p>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="Expressing_duration_of_inaction" title="wikilink">Expressing duration of inaction</a></li>
<li><a href="Uses_of_le" title="wikilink">Uses of le</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="sources-and-further-reading">Sources and further reading</h2>
<h3 id="books">Books</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="Integrated_Chinese:_Level_1,_Part_2_(3rd_ed)" title="wikilink">Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed)</a> (pp. 118-9) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887276709/ref%3das_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=allset-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=217145&amp;creative=399369&amp;creativeASIN=0887276709">→buy</a></li>
<li><a href="Chinese:_An_Essential_Grammar,_Second_Edition" title="wikilink">Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition</a> (pp. 90-1) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415372615/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=allset-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=217145&amp;creative=399369&amp;creativeASIN=0415372615">→buy</a></li>
<li><a href="40_Lessons_for_Basic_Chinese_Course_(基础汉语40课上册）" title="wikilink">40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (基础汉语40课上册）</a> (p. 173)<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FTL8D8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B001FTL8D8&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=allset-20">→buy</a></li>
</ul>
<p>        </p>
<p><a href="Category:A2_grammar_points" title="wikilink">Category:A2 grammar points</a></p>