Changing Situation – 了 le

了₂ – Sentence particle了

S + V + (O) + 了₂

It indicates a new situation or change of state and is always placed at the end of a sentence.

The Chinese particle 了₂ is typically used at the end of a sentence to indicate a change of state or situation, except when a final particle (such as ma, ba, a, ne, etc.) is present. In such cases, it appears immediately before the final particle. The 了₂ particle emphasizes that the situation is now different from before and that there has been a change in the state of something.

王Wáng先生xiānshēng五wǔ年nián前qián很hěn胖pàng， 現在xiànzài瘦shòu了le王Wáng先生xiānsheng五wǔ年nián前qián很hěn胖pàng， 现在xiànzài瘦shòu了le
Mr. Wang was fat 5 years ago but now he is thinner.

學xué中文zhōngwén的de人rén多duō了le学xué中文zhōngwén的de人rén多duō了le
The number of people who are learning Mandarin is increasing a lot.
(It wasn’t like that before.)

東西dōngxī都dōu貴guì了le东西dōngxi都dōu贵guì了le
Things are getting expensive now. (They were inexpensive before)

我wǒ飽bǎo了le！ 我wǒ饱bǎo了le！
I am full. (I was hungry)

我wǒ不bú愛ài你nǐ了le！ 我wǒ不bú爱ài你nǐ了le！
I don’t love you anymore. (I used to love you in the past)

Questions

你nǐ喝hē咖啡kāfēi了le嗎ma？ 你nǐ喝hē咖啡kāfēi了le吗ma？
Have you had coffee?
(It implies that you know this person drinks coffee and you want to check whether the statement ‘drink coffee’ has changed or not yet.)

你nǐ付錢fùqián了le嗎ma？ 你nǐ付钱fùqián了le吗ma？
Have you paid？

Let’s compare these 5 sentences!

你nǐ喝hē咖啡kāfēi嗎ma？ 你nǐ喝hē咖啡kāfēi吗ma？

你nǐ喝hē了le咖啡kāfēi嗎ma？ 你nǐ喝hē了le咖啡kāfēi吗ma？

你nǐ喝hē咖啡kāfēi了le嗎ma？ 你nǐ喝hē咖啡kāfēi了le吗ma？

你nǐ要yào喝hē咖啡kāfēi嗎ma？ 你nǐ要yào喝hē咖啡kāfēi吗ma？

你nǐ在zài喝hē咖啡kāfēi嗎ma？ 你nǐ在zài喝hē咖啡kāfēi吗ma？

The first question is asking about whether or not the person drinks coffee. It doesn’t imply anything specific. The second sentence is asking if the person has finished their coffee. It implies that the action of drinking coffee has already taken place, and the speaker is asking whether or not the person has completed it. The third sentence is asking if the person has had coffee. It emphasizes whether or not the action of drinking coffee has happened in the past. The fourth sentence is a question about whether or not the person wants to drink coffee in the present or near future.

Let’s Try Out

Let’s try to compare these two sentences!

下雨了 Xià yǔle　VS　下了雨 Xiàle yǔ

Do you know the difference?