Expressing completion with "le"

Also known as: 了1, 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 a certain time frame.

Structure

To indicate completeness with 了 (le), the structure is:

Subj. + Verb + 了 + Obj.

Notice that 了 (le) goes directly after the verb. This 了 (le) is called verb 了 (le) or 了1.

Examples

  • 他 买 了 新 手机 。 Tā mǎi le xīn shǒujī.He bought a new cell phone.
  • 你 今天 早上 吃 了 什么 ？Nǐ jīntiān zǎoshang chī le shénme? What did you eat this morning?
  • 昨天 晚上 我 看见 了 UFO 。 Zuótiān wǎnshang wǒ kànjiàn le UFO.I saw a UFO last night.
  • 我 找到 了 工作 。What did you eat this morning?
  • 上个月 我 去 了 台湾 。Shàng gè yuè wǒ qù le Táiwān.I went to Taiwan last month.

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

  • 你 到 了 告诉 我 。future actionNǐ dào le gàosu wǒ.When you have arrived, tell me.
  • 你 下班 了 给 我 打 电话 。future actionNǐ ​ le yǐhòu, gěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà.After you get off work, give me a call.
  • 你们 吃 了 饭 可以 玩 。future actionNǐmen chī le fàn kěyǐ wán.You can play after you eat.

As you can see, 了 (le) 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 frame we're talking about. This also means that this 了 (le) isn't used with habitual or continuous actions.

  • 我 今天 学 了 。Wǒ xué le liǎng nián Zhōngwén. I studied Chinese for two years.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

Websites

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