Difference between revisions of "Change of state with "le""

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m (Text replacement - "péngyǒu" to "péngyou")
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* 我 会 说 中文 <em>了</em>。 <span class="expl">(I couldn't before)</span><span class="pinyin">Wǒ huì shuō Zhōngwén <em>le</em>.</span><span class="trans">I can speak Chinese.</span>
 
* 我 会 说 中文 <em>了</em>。 <span class="expl">(I couldn't before)</span><span class="pinyin">Wǒ huì shuō Zhōngwén <em>le</em>.</span><span class="trans">I can speak Chinese.</span>
* 我 有 女朋友 <em>了</em>。 <span class="expl">(I didn't have one before)</span><span class="pinyin">Wǒ yǒu nǚ péngyǒu <em>le</em>.</span><span class="trans">I have a girlfriend.</span>
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* 我 有 女朋友 <em>了</em>。 <span class="expl">(I didn't have one before)</span><span class="pinyin">Wǒ yǒu nǚ péngyou <em>le</em>.</span><span class="trans">I have a girlfriend.</span>
 
* 我 想 妈妈 <em>了</em> 。 <span class="expl">(I didn't before now)</span><span class="pinyin">Wǒ xiǎng māmā <em>le</em>.</span><span class="trans">I miss my mom.</span>
 
* 我 想 妈妈 <em>了</em> 。 <span class="expl">(I didn't before now)</span><span class="pinyin">Wǒ xiǎng māmā <em>le</em>.</span><span class="trans">I miss my mom.</span>
 
* 我 25 岁 <em>了</em>。 <span class="pinyin">Wǒ èrshíwǔ suì <em>le</em>.</span><span class="trans">I'm 25 years old.</span>
 
* 我 25 岁 <em>了</em>。 <span class="pinyin">Wǒ èrshíwǔ suì <em>le</em>.</span><span class="trans">I'm 25 years old.</span>

Revision as of 08:50, 11 August 2015

Chinese-grammar-wiki-le.jpg
Also known as: 了2, change-of-state 了, sentence 了 and modal 了.

了 (le) has many uses. You probably first learned 了 (le) as a particle that tells you an action is completed, which is also known as "了1." However, this article is not about that use of 了 (le); instead, it is about indicating a change of state (了2). In other words, there is now a new situation, or there is about to be a new situation. This whole "change of state" idea can take numerous forms, and this page includes some helpful examples.

Structure

When used in this way, 了(le) is placed at the end of the sentence to show that the whole statement describes a new situation.

[New Situation] + 了

Examples

  • 我 会 说 中文 (I couldn't before)Wǒ huì shuō Zhōngwén le.I can speak Chinese.
  • 我 有 女朋友 (I didn't have one before)Wǒ yǒu nǚ péngyou le.I have a girlfriend.
  • 我 想 妈妈 (I didn't before now)Wǒ xiǎng māmā le.I miss my mom.
  • 我 25 岁 Wǒ èrshíwǔ suì le.I'm 25 years old.
  • 我 明白 Wǒ míngbái le.I understand.
  • 我 有 钱 Wǒ yǒu qián le.I have money.
  • 他 笑 Tā xiào le.He's laughing.
  • 没 有 水 Méiyǒu shuǐ le.We don't have any water.
  • 下 雨 Xià yǔ le.It's raining.
  • 你 胖 Nǐ pàng le.You are fat.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

Websites