The particle le
了 after a verb for something done, and at the end of a sentence for something new, as in 下雨了; and 没有, with no 了, for what did not happen.
Learn
The particle le, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Put 了 after a verb for something done
了 after a verb shows the action is finished: 我买了一本书。 (I bought a book.) 她看了两个电影。 Use it this way when the object has a number or a description.
Put 了 at the end for a short report
When the object is short and plain, 了 usually goes at the end of the sentence: 我吃午饭了。 (I've had lunch.) 她去北京了。 (She's gone to Beijing.)
Leave 了 out of habits and states in the past
了 marks a finished action, not the past in general. A habit or a state takes a time word instead: 以前我每天走路去学校。 我小的时候很喜欢踢足球。 是, 喜欢 and 觉得 rarely take 了.
Make it negative with 没, and drop 了
没 or 没有 before the verb says it didn't happen, and 了 goes: 我没买书。 To ask, add 吗 or end with 没有: 你吃午饭了吗？ 你吃午饭了没有？
Use 了 at the end for a change
After an adjective, or at the end of a sentence, 了 says something is new: 天冷了。 (It's turned cold.) 我十六岁了。 (I'm sixteen now.) 下雨了！ (It's started raining!)
Say too much with 太…了
太 before an adjective and 了 at the end mean too, past the limit: 太贵了！ 我的卧室太小了。 It also makes a cheerful so: 太好了！ (Great!)
Say no longer with 不…了
不 before the verb and 了 at the end mean not any more: 我不喜欢肉了。 她不住在伦敦了。 (She doesn't live in London any more.)
Say how long you have been doing something
了 after the verb, with a length of time, says how long: 我学了三年汉语。 (I studied Chinese for three years.) A second 了 at the end means it is still going on: 我学了三年汉语了。 (I've been learning Chinese for three years.)
The particle le key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- 了 after a verb
- Shows an action is finished: 我买了一本书.
- 了 at the end
- Shows a change or something new: 天冷了, 我饿了.
- Completed action
- An action that is done and over, shown with 了.
- 没 with no 了
- The negative of a finished action: 我没去 (I didn't go).
- 太…了
- Too, past the limit, around an adjective: 太贵了.
- 不…了
- No longer, not any more: 我不累了.
- 了没有
- Added to the end to ask whether something has happened, as in 你吃午饭了没有, have you had lunch.
- Time word
- A word such as 昨天 or 以前 that places an event in the past, so a habit needs no 了.
Common mistakes in The particle le
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Keeping 了 with 没, as in 我没吃了.
没 already says it didn't happen, so 了 goes: 我没吃.
Adding 了 to a past habit, as in 以前我每天了走路.
A habit takes no 了: 以前我每天走路去学校. The time word shows it is the past.
Leaving 了 off a finished one-off action, as in 昨天我买一本书.
One finished action at a particular time takes 了: 昨天我买了一本书.
Putting 了 after 喜欢 for the past, as in 我小的时候喜欢了足球.
Likes and states take no 了 for the past: 我小的时候很喜欢足球.
Writing 我没喜欢肉了 for I don't like meat any more.
No longer is 不…了, because 没 is only for what didn't happen: 我不喜欢肉了.
Practice
Try a The particle le question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
Which sentence means 'When I was little, I often went to the park'?
- 我小时候常常去了公园。
- 我小时候常常去公园。
- 我小时候了常常去公园。
- 我小时候不常常去公园。
Show the answer and the working
Answer: 我小时候常常去公园。
Something you used to do often takes no 了: 我小时候常常去公园.
- 小时候: when I was little.
- 常常: often, a habit.
- Habits take no 了: 我小时候常常去公园。