Change of state with "le"

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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

  • 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 beforeJiālǐ 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 50 years old this year.
  • 手机 没电 了。Shǒujī méidiàn le.The cell phone ran out of power.
  • 宝宝 会 说话 了。He couldn't beforeBǎobao huì shuōhuà le. The baby can speak.
  • 你哥哥 有 女朋友 了 吗？He didn't have one beforeNǐ gēge yǒu nǚpéngyou le ma? Does your elder brother have a girlfriend?
  • 我 男朋友 找到 新 工作 了。Wǒ nánpéngyou zhǎo dào xīn gōngzuò le. My boyfriend found a new job.
  • 你老婆 怀孕 了 吗？Nǐ lǎopo huáiyùn le ma? Is your wife pregnant?

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

Websites

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