81 lines
5.5 KiB
Markdown
81 lines
5.5 KiB
Markdown
了le is very difficult to grasp in Chinese. It can appear after a verb or at the end of a sentence, and serves a variety of functions.
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# Post-Verbal (Perfective) 了
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The verbal 了 is used primarily to mark the completion [[Aspect|aspect]] of a verb. Note that this is not equivalent to marking a past action (tense).
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In English, the "perfective"/"completive" may appear in all three tenses:
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1. Past Perfect: I *had* already arrived (when he called).
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2. Present Perfect: I have already arrived.
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3. Future Perfect: I will/shall have arrived (by 8PM tomorrow).
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"Perfect" refers to the completion of perfection aspect of an action, signalling that the action as represented by the verb has attained its completion by a certain point in time.
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The Chinese "verb + 了" serves to mark the perfective aspect. "verb + 了" can appear with a future, present, or past action - as long as the context calls for its use.
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## 了 doesn't apply to all past actions
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Since past actions are often also already accomplished actions, "verb + 了" is often used for past actions. However, past actions don't have to have a 了 - it's only needed when the completion aspect is stressed.
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### Habitual Actions
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For example, when describing a habitual action in the past, 了 is not used:
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1. 他以前常常来看我。
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He used to often come to see me.
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2. 他昨天来了。
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He came yesterday.
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In (2), a specific event took place yesterday, and thus is completed by now. However, (1) states a general or habitual situation in the past. Because the action in (1) was repeated on a regular basis, the emphasis is not on the perfective aspect - and 了 should not be used. Indeed, translating the sentence with "used to" - instead of just "came" - is also omitting the perfective aspect in English.
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### Describing State or Status
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When a sentence reports a state/status in its entirety - and not measured in terms of its various aspectual phases - we don't use the perfective 了:
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1. 他去年在中国学习汉语。
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He was studying Chinese in China last year.
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The sentence describes his previous state as a Chinese language student for the entire year. Thus, the focus is on the continuous state and not it's conclusion.
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Indeed, verbs such as 是 (to be), 姓 (to be surnamed), 有 (to have), etc. which pertain to status descriptions do not normally get used with 了:
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1. 他以前是我老是。
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He used to be my teacher.
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2. 王老师以前姓文。
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Teacher Wang's surname used to be Wen.
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3. 今年以前，这儿都是电影院。
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A few years ago, this place used to be full of cinemas.
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### Descriptive Statements with Adjectives
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Descriptive statements with an adjective do not employ the perfective 了. Adjectives are stative verbs in Chinese, and - as stative verbs - do not usually appear in the perfective:
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1. 这个作家以前很又名。
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This author used to be very famous.
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2. 昨天的酒会不太有意思。
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Yesterday's reception wasn't particularly interesting.
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### Sentences with the Degree Complement Construction
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The [[Complements#Complement of Degree|degree complement]] is essentially a description of the state of achievement. Thus, we don't use the perfective 了 with it:
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1. 你昨天跳舞跳得很好。
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You danced very well yesterday.
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### Sentences with Reported Speech
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The emphasis when giving reported speech is more on what is being said, rather than the completion aspect of the speech itself. So, the quotation always begins with a simple verb such as 说，问, etc. and doesn't use the perfective 了:
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1. 老师问我们， “你们想去参加招待会吗？”我们说：“我们都很想去。”
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The teacher asked us, "Would you want to go to the reception?" We responded, "We would all love to."
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2. 他说他不会翻译今天的课文。
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He said he didn't know how to translate today's text.
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## Grammatical Rules with Perfective 了
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When the verb doesn't take an object, the aspectual 了 appears immediately after the verb. The negative of "verb + 了" is "没(有) + verb". The perfective 了 is cancelled by the presence of 没有 in the negative pattern:
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| Pos/Neg/Int | Construction | Meaning |
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| ------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
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| Positive | Subject + Verb + 了 | has taken place |
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| Negative | (a) Subject + 没(有) + Verb<br>(b) Subject + 还没(有) + Verb + 呢 | has not taken place<br>has not taken place yet, but would later |
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| Interrogative | (a) Subject + Verb + 了 + 吗？<br>(b) Subject + Verb + 了 + 没有?<br>(c) Subject + Verb + 没 + Verb？ | |
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Examples:
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1. 电影开始了吗？
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Has the film started?
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2. 电影开始了。
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The film has started.
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3. 电影还么开始呢。
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The film hasn't started yet (but it will in the future).
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4. 今天他们很忙，都没休息。
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Today they're all ready busy, they haven't taken a break.
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5. 老师讲得很清楚，学生都懂了。
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The teacher explained it clearly, and all the students understood it.
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6. 你现在可以来，我们还没有睡呢。
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You can come now, we haven't gone to bed yet.
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7. 没有，我今天没有喝酒。
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No, I didn't drink alcohol today.
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