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.

General Change of State

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

Some examples:

• 他 会 开车 了。 "He can drive now." (he couldn't before)
• 我 有 女朋友 了。 "I have a girlfriend now." (I didn't have one before)
• 情况 跟 以前 不 一样 了 。 "The situation isn't the same as before." (obviously, it's a change of situation!)

Expressing "Now"

The word "now" doesn't always need to be translated as 现在. You'll notice that in many common expressions, 了 is used in place of the explicit word for "now."

• 吃饭 了！ "Time to eat!"
• 我 来 了。 "I'm coming over now. / I'm on the way"
• 我 知道 了。 "I get it now. / I see now. / Now I know. (I didn't before)"

Expressing "Already"

You can expect to see the word 已经 (meaning "already") in these sentences, which frequently pairs up with 了, but note that sometimes that feeling of "already" can also be expressed with 了 alone.

• 我 已经 告诉 他 了。 "I already told him."
• 我 吃 过 饭 了 。 "I've (already) eaten."
• 你 早就 知道 了。 "You knew (that) a long time ago."

Expressing "Not Anymore"

In a negative sentence, the sentence-final 了 can taken on the meaning of "(not) anymore" or "no longer."

• 没有 纸 了。"There's no paper anymore." (in other words, "we're out of paper")
• 他 不会 开车 了。"He doesn't know how to drive anymore." (but he could before)
• 我 不能 喝酒 了。"I can't drink anymore."
• 你 不喜 欢 我 了？"You don't like me anymore?"

Other Types of Change of State

Exactly what situations "change of state" covers is a bit open to interpretation. See some other similar uses under the article on the modal particle 了 (le).

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

Websites

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