Expressing "not anymore" with "le"

Chinese-grammar-wiki-le.jpg

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

不 with Only 了

Structure

不 + [Verb Phrase] + 了

Examples

  • 想 吃 xiǎng chī le.I don't want to eat anymore.
  • 喜欢 我 吗? xǐhuan wǒ le ma?You don't like me anymore?
  • 你们 能 打 Nǐmen néng dǎ le.You can't fight anymore.

没有 with Only 了

Structure

没(有) + [Noun Phrase] + 了

Examples

  • 没有in other words, "we're out of paper"Méiyǒu zhǐ le.There's no paper anymore.
  • 手机 Shǒujī méi diàn le.My cell phone has run out of power.
  • 没有méiyǒu jiā le.He doesn't have his home anymore.

Adding 已经 for Emphasis

已经 (yǐjīng) is optional for this pattern, but either (bù) or 没有 (méiyǒu) will be needed to make the verb negative. The sentence-final 了 (le) is, of course, required.

Structure

已经 + 不 + [Verb Phrase] + 了

已经 + 没(有) + [Noun Phrase] + 了

Examples

  • 已经 住 这里 yǐjīng zhù zhèlǐ le.I don't live here anymore.
  • 已经 在 这儿 工作 yǐjīng zài zhèr gōngzuò le.He doesn't work here anymore.
  • 他们 已经 在 一起 Tāmen yǐjīng zài yīqǐ le.They are no longer together.
  • 我们 已经 Wǒmen yǐjīng méi qián le.We all don't have any more money.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

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