Change of state with "le"

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

• 下 雨 了。Xià yǔ le.It's raining.
• 妈妈 老 了。Māma lǎo le.Mom is old.
• 你 胖 了。Nǐ pàng le.You've gotten fat.
• 家里 没有 牛奶 了。(We had milk before)Jiālǐ méiyǒu niúnǎi le.We don‘t have any milk at home.
• 爸爸 今年 50 岁 了。 Bàba jīnnián wǔshí suì le.Dad is 25 years old this year.
• 手机 没电 了。Shǒujī méidiàn le.The phone is power off.
• 宝宝 会 说话 了。 (He couldn't before)Bǎobao huì shuōhuà le.The baby can speak.
• 你哥哥 有 女朋友 了 吗？ (He didn't have one before)Nǐ gēge yǒu nǚpéngyou le ma?Does your elder brother have a girlfriend?
• 小女孩 有点 想 妈妈 了 。 (She didn't before now)Xiǎonǚhái yǒudiǎn xiǎng māmā le.The kid sort of miss her mom.
• 我 男朋友 找到 新 工作 了。Wǒ nánpéngyou zhǎo dào xīn gōngzuò le.My boyfriend finds a new job.

See also

• Expressing "now" with "le"
• Expressing "already" with "le"
• Expressing "not anymore" with "le"
• Uses of "le"

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

• East Asia Student: 了 grammar: four kinds of 了 in Mandarin
• Chinesegrammar.info: Chinese le grammar summary (了)