Expressing "not anymore" with "le"

Revision as of 03:02, 24 February 2014 by Yucui (talk | contribs)
Chinese-grammar-wiki-le.jpg

In a negative sentence, the sentence-final 了 (le) can taken on the meaning of "(not) anymore" or "no longer." The word 已经 (yǐjīng), which means "already," may nor may not accompany it.

Structure

(已经) + [Negative Verb Phrase] + 了

Examples

  • 没 有 纸 (in other words, "we're out of paper")There's no paper anymore.
  • 我 不 能 喝酒 (there's some new reason why I can't drink now)I can't drink anymore.
  • 你 不 喜 欢 我 You don't like me anymore?
  • 我 已经 不 爱 你 I don't love you anymore.
  • 我 没 有 钱I don't have money anymore. / I'm not rich anymore.
  • 没 有 酒 We're out of booze.
  • 我 没 有 工作 I don't have a job anymore.
  • 不 想 去 I don't want to go anymore.
  • 他 已经 不 住 在 这里
  • 他 不 会 再 回来

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

Websites