Expressing completion with "le"

Also known as: 了1, verb 了, completed action 了 and perfective aspect 了.

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.

Structure

To indicate completion, 了 goes directly after the verb. When there is an object followed by the verb, 了is generally placed after the object.

Subj. + Verb (+ Obj.) + 了

Examples

• 他们 来 了 。Tāmen lái le.They arrived.
• 我 买 了 。Wǒ mǎi le.I bought it.
• 我 吃 早饭 了 。Wǒ chī zǎofàn le.I ate breakfast.
• 他 买 新 手机 了 。 Tā mǎi xīn shǒujī le.He bought a new cell phone.
• 我 找到 工作 了 。Wǒ zhǎodào gōngzuò le.I found a job.
• 上个月 我 去 台湾 了 。Shàng gè yuè wǒ qù Táiwān le.I went to Taiwan last month.
• 昨天 晚上 我 看见 UFO 了 。 Zuótiān wǎnshang wǒ kànjiàn UFO le.I saw a UFO last night.

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.
• 你 下班 了 给 我 打 电话 。future actionNǐ ​xiàbān le gěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà.After you get off work, give me a call.

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.

Where to put 了

Sometimes 了 can be put in front of the object, it still doesn't influence the meaning of the sentence.

A few examples:

• 他 买 了 新 手机 。Tā mǎi le xīn shǒujī .He bought a new cell phone.
• 上个月 我 去 了 台湾 。Shàng gè yuè wǒ qù le Táiwān.I went to Taiwan last month.

In some cases, 了 and the position of the object are fixed. If anything is misplaced, the sentence won't make sense.

1. 了 must go directly after the verb if the object is preceded by a number and measure word.

Verb + 了 + Number + Measure Word + Obj.

A few examples:

• 老师 问 了 五 个 问题 。Lǎoshī wèn le wǔ gè wèntí.The teacher asked five questions.
• 我 买 了 三 本 书 。Wǒ mǎi le sān běn shū.I bought three books.
• 我 喝 了 两杯 咖啡 。Wǒ hē le liǎng bēi kāfēi.I drank two cups of coffee.

2. If the preposition includes 来 or 去, 了 should be placed behind the second verb or verb phrase, marking the completion of the main event.

Subj. + 来 / 去 + Place + Verb / [Verb Phrase] + 了

A few examples:

• 昨天 她 来 我家 吃饭 了 。Zuótiān tā lái wǒ jiā chīfàn le.She came to my place to eat dinner yesterday.
• 我们 上周 去 北京 开会 了 。Wǒmen shàngzhōu qù Běijīng kāihuì le.We went to Beijing and had a meeting there last week.
• 我 和 朋友 去 商场 买衣服 了 。Wǒ hé péngyou qù shāngchǎng mǎi yīfu le.I went to the mall with my friend and we bought some clothes.

See also

• Expressing experiences with verbs
• Uses of "le"
• Using "guo" with "le"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (pp. 65-8) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 57-9) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 137-9, 208) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 11-4) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar (pp. 185-217) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1) (pp. 199-200) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1)(2nd ed) (pp. 226-8) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 2 (新实用汉语课本2) (pp. 16-8) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• 40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (基础汉语40课上册） (pp. 156-7) [ →buy]

Websites

• Yale: The Perfective –Le了 Versus The Modal Particle Le了