Difference between revisions of "Expressing completion with "le""

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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.

The Basic Pattern

To indicate completeness with 了, the structure is:

Subject + Verb + 了 + Object

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

Example Sentences

Some basic examples:

他上了飞机。 "He got on the plane."
我喝了五瓶啤酒。 "I drank five bottles of beer."
你到了北京没有？ "Have you arrived in Beijing?"

The examples above indicate a completed action, but they might also seem very similar to a "past tense" in English. To illustrate that 了 can also indicate that one action is completed before another, see the following examples:

你吃完了以后，来找我。 "After you've finished eating, come look for me." (future action)
你到了以后，给我打电话。 "After you have arrived, call me." (future action)
明天我吃了晚饭以后就跟朋友去咖啡店。 "Tomorrow after I've eaten dinner, I'll go to a cafe with friends." (future action)

As you can see, 了 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 verb 了 can't be used with habitual or continuous actions.

Sources and further reading

Books

Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (pp. 65-8) →buy
Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 137-9) →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

Websites

Yale: The Perfective –Le了 Versus The Modal Particle Le了
East Asia Student: 了 grammar: four kinds of 了 in Mandarin

@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
 * [[Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar]] (pp. 65-8) [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933330899/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=1933330899 →buy]
-* [[Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed)]] (pp. 137-9)　[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887276385/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0887276385 →buy]
+* [[Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed)]] (pp. 137-9) [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887276385/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0887276385 →buy]
 * [[Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1]] (pp. 11-4) [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887276792/ref%3das_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0887276792 →buy]
 * [[Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar]] (pp. 185-217) [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520066103?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0520066103 →buy]