Change of state with "le"

Also known as: sentence 了 and modal 了.

了 (le) has a lot of uses. You probably first learned 了 as a particle that tells you an action is completed. It's also known as 了1. This article is not about that use of 了, it's 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, so it's helpful to view them individually, alongside some English translations.

General Change of State

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

Some examples:

• 他 会 开车 了。 "He can now drive." (he couldn't before)
• 我 有 女朋友 了。 "I have a girlfriend now." (I didn't have one before)
• 情况 跟 以前 不 一样 了 。 "The situation isn't the same as before." (obviously, it's a change of situation!)

Expressing "Now"

The word "now" doesn't always need to be translated as 现在. You'll notice that in many common expressions, 了 is used in place of the explicit word for "now."

• 吃饭 了！ "Time to eat!"
• 我 来 了。 "I'm coming over now. / I'm on the way"
• 我 知道 了。 "I get it now. / I see now. / Now I know. (I didn't before)"

Expressing "Already"

You can expect to see the word 已经 (meaning "already") in these sentences, which frequently pairs up with 了, but note that sometimes that feeling of "already" can also be expressed with 了 alone.

• 我 已经 告诉 他 了。 "He can now drive." (he couldn't before)
• 我 吃 过 饭 了 。 "I don't drink anymore." (but I used to)
• 你 早就 知道 了。 "I knew (that) a long time ago."

Expressing "Not Anymore"

In a negative sentence, the sentence-final 了 can taken on the meaning of "(not) anymore" or "no longer."

• 他 不会 开车 了。"He doesn't know how to drive anymore." (but he could before)
• 我 不能 喝酒 了。"I can't drink anymore."
• 你 不喜 欢 我 了？"You don't like me anymore?"

Telling Someone to "Stop" Doing Something

If someone is doing something and you want them to stop, you're actually demanding a change of state. So you put the 了 in the command to indicate that desired change of state (even though it hasn't actually happened, and the person given the command may or may not cooperate).

• 你 不要 去 了 。"Don't go." (I hope you'll change your mind.)
• 别 烦 她 了 。"Stop pestering her."
• 别 问 我 了 。"Stop asking me."

Expressing "has become..."

Especially for adjectives, you can skip special verbs altogether and just use 了 to indicate that something has changed in quality.

• 他 的 衣服 脏 了。"He can now drive." (he couldn't before)
• 我 胖 了。"I've gotten fat(ter)."
• 你 现在 是 老师 了。"You're a teacher now." (but you weren't before)

Sources and further reading

Books

• Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar (pp. 238 - 299)

Websites

• East Asia Student: 了 grammar: four kinds of 了 in Mandarin