了 (le) in Chinese, explained
了 (le) is the most talked-about word in Chinese grammar, because it does two jobs. After a verb it says an action is complete; at the end of a sentence it says the situation is new.
It isn't a past tense: 了 can describe the future too, and many past sentences have no 了 at all.
The essentials
- After the verb, for a completed action: 我买了两本书 (I bought two books).
- In the negative, drop 了 and use 没: 我没去, not 我没去了.
- At the end of a sentence, for a change: 下雨了 (it's started raining), 我不去了 (I'm not going any more).
- 要…了 and 快要…了 for something about to happen: 火车要开了.
Every lesson on this topic
Each lesson has a full explanation, examples in characters and pinyin you can listen to, and exercises with answers.
A1 (the A1 course)
- 了: a completed action: 我买了两本书; 我没去 (no 了 in the negative). 了 marks completion, not just the past.
A2 (the A2 course)
- 了 at the end: something has changed: 下雨了, 我不去了, 他二十岁了: 了 at the end of a sentence says the situation is new.
- 要…了, 快要…了: about to happen: 火车要开了, 快下雨了, 明天就要考试了: something is about to happen.
B2 (the B2 course)
- Aspect together: 过…了, 着, 起来, 下来, 下去: Combining 过 and 了, 着 in descriptions, and 起来, 下来, 下去 for starting, settling and continuing.
In the app, these lessons are taught one idea at a time with audio, practised with questions you can answer in characters or pinyin, and brought back for review.
Other topics
- 的, 地 and 得: the three de
- Chinese measure words
- The 把 (bǎ) sentence, explained
- 被 (bèi) and the passive in Chinese
- 是…的 (shì…de): when, where and how
- Comparisons with 比 (bǐ)
- 过 (guò) and 着 (zhe): experience and ongoing states
- Chinese complements: result, direction and potential
- Questions in Chinese: 吗, question words and particles
- 不 (bù) or 没 (méi): negation in Chinese
- Chinese conjunctions: because, although, if
- Chengyu: Chinese four-character idioms
- Chinese numbers, dates and time
- Chinese tones and pinyin