Learning to use "le"
Everyone thinks at first that 了 (le) is best learned as a series of hard and fast rules, similar to how you know what tense to use in Spanish. In reality, though, it's much easier to use 了 as a group of patterns. If you learn all of these patterns progressively, you will naturally start to get a feel for 了.
Expressing Completion
| Grammar Point (English) | Pattern | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Questions with "le ma" | Verb + 了 + 吗？ | 你 吃饭 了 吗 ？ |
| Expressing "already" with just "le" | Subj. + Verb Phrase + 了 | 你 应该 问 老师 。我 问 了 。 |
Common Patterns
| Grammar Point (English) | Pattern | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Expressing "excessively" with "tai" | 太 + Adj. + 了 | 太 好 了 ! |
| Negative adjectives with "-si le" | Adj. + 死了 | 我 今天 累 死了 。 |
| Expressing "stop doing" with "bie… le" | 别 + Verb + 了 | 别 哭 了，烦 死了 。 |
| Expressing "much more" in comparisons | Noun 1 + 比 + Noun 2 + Adj. + 多了 | 拼音 比 汉字 容易 多了 。 |
| Superlative "zui" | 最 + Adj. (+ 了) | 谁 最 有钱 ？ |
| Adjectives with "-ji le" | Adj. + 极了 | 这个 主意 好 极了 。 |
Indicating Change of State
| Grammar Point (English) | Pattern | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Change of state with "le" | ⋯⋯了 | 我 25 岁 了。 |
| Expressing duration with "le" | Verb + 了 + Duration | 他 在 北京 住 了 两 年。 |
