Change of state with "le"

Also known as: 了2, change-of-state 了, sentence 了 and modal 了.

了 (le) has a lot of uses. You probably first learned 了 as a particle that tells you an action is completed, which is also known as 了1. This article is not about that use of 了; it's 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, so it's helpful to view them individually, alongside some English translations.

Structure

When used in this way, 了 is placed at the end of the sentence to mark that the whole statement describes a new situation.

[New Situation] + 了

Examples

Some examples:

• 我 会 说 中文 了。 (I couldn't before)I can speak Chinese now.
• 我 有 女朋友 了。 (I didn't have one before)I have a girlfriend now.
• 我 想 妈妈 了 。 (I didn't before now)I miss my mom now.
• 我 25 岁 了。 I'm 25 years old now.

See also

• Uses of "le"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (pp. 68) →buy
• Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 126-9) →buy
• Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar (pp. 238-99) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 2 (新实用汉语课本2) (pp. 217-8) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 3 (新实用汉语课本3) (pp. 64-5) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (p. 8) →buy
• 40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (基础汉语40课上册） (p. 239)→buy

Websites

• East Asia Student: 了 grammar: four kinds of 了 in Mandarin
• Chinesegrammar.info: Chinese le grammar summary (了)