了(le)

了

了：aspect particle or modal particle.

了 as an aspect particle

“了” is an aspect particle used after a verb to express the completion of an action.

Verb + 了

e.g.

我喝了一杯咖啡。(Wǒ hēle yībēi kāfēi.) I drank a cup of coffee.

我看了一本书。(Wǒ kànle yī běn shū.) I read a book.

The negative form of “Verb + 了”: 没 + verb

e.g.

A: 你喝咖啡了吗？(Nǐ hē kāfēi le ma?) Have you had coffee?

B：喝了。 (Hēle.) I drank it.

 

A: 你喝咖啡了吗？(Nǐ hē kāfēi le ma?) Have you had coffee?

B: 没喝。(Méi hē.) I didn’t drink.

了 cannot be used if an action happens habitually or regularly.

e.g.

√ 我经常去旅游。(Wǒ jīngcháng qù lǚyóu.) I often travel.

✘ 我经常去了旅游。

 

√ 我通常晚上十点睡觉。(Wǒ tōngcháng wǎnshàng shí diǎn shuìjiào.) I usually go to bed at ten at night.

✘ 我通常晚上十点睡觉了。

了 cannot be used if the verb expresses a mental activity, such as 喜欢，欣赏，佩服，想念 and etc.

e.g.

√ 我喜欢中国菜。(Wǒ xǐhuān Zhōngguó cài.) I like Chinese food.

✘ 我喜欢了中国菜。

 

√ 这个孩子非常思念妈妈。(Zhège háizi fēicháng sīniàn māma.) The child misses his mother very much.

✘ 这个孩子非常思念了妈妈。

了 as a modal particle

Express a change.

了 is used to indicate the change in the state of somebody or something that has already happened, meaning “it was not … in the past, but it is now.”

e.g.

下雪了！(Xià xuě le!) Snowing!

我想家了。(Wǒ xiǎng jiā le.) I miss my home.

了 is used to indicate a change that is going to take place in the patterns like “就要/快要/要/快……了”.

e.g.

我们就要睡觉了。(Wǒmen jiù yào shuìjiào le.) We are going to sleep.

我快20岁了。(Wǒ kuài 20 suì le.) I am almost 20 years old.

Express the tone of a sentence.

了 is put at the end of a declarative sentence to soften the tone.

e.g.

你别哭了！(Nǐ bié kū le!) Don’t cry!

我走了，再见！(Wǒ zǒu le, zàijiàn!) I am leaving, bye!

了 is put at the end of an exclamative sentence to enhance the tone.

e.g.

你太好了！(Nǐ tài hǎo le!) You are so nice!

这件事有意思极了！(Zhè jiàn shì yǒuyìsi jíle!) This thing is very interesting!