Expressing completion with "le"

Also known as: 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 whatever time frame we're talking about.

Basic Pattern

To indicate completeness with 了 (le), the structure is:

Subj. + Verb + 了 + Obj.

Notice that 了 (le) goes directly after the verb. This 了 (le) is called verb 了 (le).

Examples

• 你 今天 晚上 吃 了 什么？ Wǒ hē le wǔ píng píjiǔ. I drank five bottles of beer.
• 他 买 了 一个 新 手机。 Tā mǎi le yī gè xīn shǒujī. He bought a new cellphone.
• 昨天 晚上 我 看见 了 UFO 。 Zuótiān wǎnshang wǒ kànjiàn le UFO. I saw a UFO.
• 我 学 了 两 年 中文 。 Wǒ xué le liǎng nián Zhōngwén. I studied two years of Chinese.
• 他 做 了 一 个 蛋糕 。 Tā zuò le yī gè dàngāo. He made a cake.
• 今年 夏天 我 跟 我女朋友 去 了 台湾 。 Jīnnián xiàtiān wǒ gēn wǒ nánpéngyou qù le Táiwān. I went to Taiwan with my boyfriend this summer.

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 吃 完 了 以后 ， 给 我 打 电话 。 Nǐ chī wán le yǐhòu, gěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà. After you've finished eating, give me a call. (future action)
• 你 到 了 以后 ， 告诉 我 。 Nǐ dào le yǐhòu, gàosu wǒ. After you have arrived, tell me. (future action)
• 明天 我 吃 了 晚饭 以后 去 酒吧 。 Míngtiān wǒ chī le wǎnfàn yǐhòu qù jiǔbā. Tomorrow after I've eaten dinner, I'll go to bar. (future action)

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 we're talking about. This also means that the verbal 了 (le) can't be used with habitual or continuous actions.

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) →buy
• Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 57-9) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 137-9, 208) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 11-4) →buy
• Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar (pp. 185-217) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1) (pp. 199-200) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1)(2nd ed) (pp. 226-8) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 2 (新实用汉语课本2) (pp. 16-8) →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
• East Asia Student: 了 grammar: four kinds of 了 in Mandarin