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 ! |
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。 |
