Chinese Language Learning Program Lesson 76 – How to use "le or liao 了" in Chinese (I)

Chinese Language Learning Program

Lesson 76 – How to use "le or liao 了" in Chinese (I)

Hello, everyone. Welcome back. This is Baixue’s Chinese Language Learning Program. Last time we talked about吧 (bā) and 吗 (mā) in Chinese. Today, we will talke about how to use "le or liao了" in Chinese.

Chinese character “了”has two different pronunciations and several different meanings.

Today, we will talk about one of the pronunciation of “了”. We will talk about the second one next time.

1. "le 了"

 

"le 了"has many functions in Chinese.

1). To express a completed action. "le 了" goes after a verb or adj. or is at the end of a sentence.

The sentence structure is:

Subject + Verb + 了 + Object

tā qù le běi jīnɡ .

他 去 了 北  京。( He went to Beijing.)

wǒ yǐ jīng bǎ gōng kè zuò wán le.

 我 已  经   把   功     课   做    完  了。

(I have already finished my homework.)

2). to express the duration of something

Subject + Verb + 了 + Duration + Object

tā zài shàng hǎi zhù le liǎng nián.

他 在     上     海    住  了   两     年。

(He lived in Shanghai for two years.)

3). To express how long you have not done something

Subject + Duration + 没 + Verb + Object + 了

tā yǐ jīng sān tiān méi shuì jué le.

他已  经    三   天     没    睡   觉 了。

(I haven’t slept for three days.)

4). To express "excessively" with "tai 太" and "zui 最"

太 + Adjective + 了

wǒ tài lèi le.

我   太 累了。(I am very tired.)

最 + Adjective (+ 了)

nǐ zuì cōng míng le.

你 最     聪     明   了。(You are the smartest.)

5). To indicate sequential actions.

nǐ chī wán le yǐ hòu, gěi wǒ dǎ diàn huà.

你  吃   完  了以   后，给   我  打   电    话。

(Please call me after you've finished eating.)

Action 1 吃 happens before action 2 打电话 which indicates that the action 2 打电话 happens only after action 1 吃 finishes.

6). To describe change or a new situation with了 at the end of the sentence

wǒ huì shuō zhōng wén le。

 我   会    说      中       文   了。

(I can speak Chinese now. (I couldn't speak Chinese before))

wǒ bù xiǎnɡ qù běi jīng le.

 我  不   想     去  北   京   了。

(I don't want to go to Beijing anymore. (I wanted to go to Beijing before, but now I changed my mind. ))

Today’s idiom is:

zuò jǐng guān tiān

 坐   井      观    天

(Literally-- look at the sky from the bottom of a well；look at the world through the window (all one's life)；narrow-mindedness；take a narrow view of things)

Ok, that is all for today.

xiè  xiè!

 谢   谢 ! (Thanks!)

xià  cì  jiàn 

 下  次  见!  (See you next time!)