Expressing ongoing duration with double "le"

A primer on how to express the duration of something that is still ongoing.

Structure with single verbs

Expressing how long you did something for in the past is one thing, but what if the action is still ongoing?

A clarifying example (in English) is appropriate:

• I lived in Shanghai for 5 years. (completed, not ongoing)
• I have lived in Shanghai for 5 years. (perhaps completed, but mostly likely ongoing)
• I have been living in Shanghai for 5 years. (definitely ongoing)

This article is about expressing the third situation above, the one which is ongoing.

Subject + Verb + 了 + Duration + 了

So 了 is first placed after the verb (to indicate that the action is completed), followed by the duration, followed by an additional 了 which tells us that the action is ongoing. You can think of the second 了 (marked in green below) as communicating the meaning of "up until now."

Examples

• 他 在 北京 住 了 两 年 了。He has been living in Beijing for two years.
• 你 学 了 一 年 了 。You have been learning for a year.
• 我 做 了 半 个 小时 了 。I have been doing it for half an hour.
• 我 喝 了 三 个 小时 了 。I have been drinking for three hours.

Structure with VO

Note that in the examples above, the verbs have no objects. When the verb has an object, the verb is often repeated:

Subject + Verb + Object + Verb + 了 + Duration + 了

Examples

• 他 住 在 北京 住 了 两 年 了 。He has been living in Beijing for two years.
• 你 学 中文 学 了 一 年 了 。You have been learning Chinese for a year.
• 我 上网 上 了 六 个 小时 了 。I have been online for six hours.
• 我们 吃饭 吃 了 三 个 小时 了 。We have been drinking for three hours.

Sources and further reading

Books

• Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (pp. 68) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (pp. 203-4) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 13 - 14) →buy

Websites

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