Grammar Explanation
Besides the function of “indicating that an action has been completed”, “了” can also indicate a change in the situation. E.g. in this sentence “她胖了(She is fat)”, “了” indicates that “She is thin before, but now she is fat.”
Structure 1: used with adjectives.
| S | Adjective | 了 |
|---|---|---|
| māmɑ | shòu | le. |
| 妈妈 | 瘦 | 了。 |
Mom is thin now. (Indicating: Mom has lost some weight.)
| dōnɡxi | ɡuì | le. |
| 东西 | 贵 | 了。 |
Things are expensive now.(Indicating: Things were not expensive before.)
| yīfu | zānɡ | le. |
| 衣服 | 脏 | 了。 |
The clothes are dirty. (Indicating: They were not dirty before.)
Structure 2: used with equative verbs (EV).
| S | (不) EV | N | 了 |
|---|---|---|---|
| xiǎolǐ | shì | bàbɑ | le. |
| 小李 | 是 | 爸爸 | 了。 |
Xiao Li is a father now. (Indicating: Xiao Li was not a father before.)
| nǐ | bú shì | xiǎohái’r | le |
| 你 | 不 是 | 小孩儿 | 了。 |
You are not a kid now. (Indicating: You are a kid before.)
| tā | bú jiào | zhānɡměi | le. |
| 她 | 不 叫 | 张美 | 了。 |
She is not called Xiao Mei now. (Indicating: She was called Xiao Mei before.)
Structure 3: used with action verbs
| S | (不) V | N | 了 |
|---|---|---|---|
| tā | yǒu | qián | le. |
| 他 | 有 | 钱 | 了。 |
He has money now. (Indicating: He didn’t have much money before.)
| tā | méi yǒu | nǚpénɡyǒu | le. |
| 他 | 没 有 | 女朋友 | 了。 |
He doesn’t have a girlfriend now. (Indicating: He had a girlfriend before.)
| xiǎolì | bú ài | tā | le. |
| 小丽 | 不 爱 | 他 | 了。 |
Xiao Li doesn’t love him now. (Indicating: Xiao Li loved him before.)
Structure 4: used with auxiliary verbs (AV).
| S | (不) AV | V-O | 了 |
|---|---|---|---|
| wǒ | bù xiǎnɡ | qù měiɡuó | le. |
| 我 | 不 想 | 去 美国 | 了。 |
I don’t want to go to the U.S. now. (Indicating: I wanted to go to the U.S. before.)
| wǒ | bú yuànyì | jiàɡěi nǐ | le. |
| 我 | 不 愿意 | 嫁给 你 | 了。 |
I am not willing to marry you now. (I was willing to marry you before.)