Result complement "-wan" for finishing

Revision as of 10:22, 24 April 2018 by ChenShishuang (talk | contribs)

On its own, 完 (wán) means "to finish" or "to complete." Using it in this grammar structure, it expresses the idea of doing some action to completion.

Structure

As well as with 到 (dào) and 见 (jiàn), you can also form result complements with 完 (wán). This indicates that an action is finished or completed.

Subj. + Verb + 完 + 了

Frequently, you'll also see a 了 (le) at the end, indicating completion.

Examples

  • 我 说 Wǒ shuō wán le.I am finished talking.
  • 你 吃 吗 ? Nǐ chī wán le ma?Are you done eating?
  • 我 看 了 。Wǒ kàn wán le.I want to finish watching it.
  • 大家 都 写 Dàjiā dōu xiě wán le.Everyone finished writing.
  • 你们 做 吗 ?Nǐmen zuò wán le ma?Did you finish doing it?

Where to put the object

If there is an object followed by the verb, 完 must be placed between the verb and the object. To indicate completion, 了 usually goes after the object.

Subj. + Verb + 完 + Obj. + 了

A few examples:

  • 我 做 作业 Wǒ zuò wán zuòyè le.I finished doing my homework.
  • 老板 开 Lǎobǎn kāi wán huì le.The boss finished having the meeting.
  • 我 看 这本书 Wǒ kàn wán zhè běn shū le.I finished reading this book.

In English we say "I finished the movie," or "I finished supper," but in Chinese you should explicitly use the verb implied in English along with 完了 (wán le) to emphasize that you completed the action: "watch the movie (till the end)" or "eat (all my) supper."

  • 了 电影 。wán le diànyǐng.
  • 我看 了 电影 。To tell us that you watched it till the end.Wǒ kàn wán le diànyǐng.I finished watching the movie.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books