Time Duration 了 le

了₁ (Verb-suffix了)

S + V + 了 + (O)

It means the action is complete and it should always be placed immediately after the verb.

Here comes the tricky part. Is using 了₁ equivalent to the past tense in English?
The answer is NO! There is no past tense in Chinese. But we use “le” to indicate a completed action. Therefore, there are some cases where we would use past tense in English, but we don’t use “le in Chinese. For example, “I didn’t eat it” is past tense in English, but the action isn’t really finished. You didn’t eat the food, so we don’t use “le” in Chinese. Therefore, please do not link 了1 with past tense.

There are other verbs that we never use “le” with because they cannot be completed. For example, “love” can’t be completed. So we never use “le” with it in Chinese.

他tā吃chī了le飯fàn他tā吃chī了le饭fàn
He had a meal. (It emphasizes the action of eating has been completed.)

我wǒ睡shuì了le覺jiào我wǒ睡shuì了le觉jiào
I slept. (It emphasizes that I am currently awake since I have completed the action of sleeping.)

我wǒ明天míngtiān下xià了le課kè就jiù要yào回家huíjiā我wǒ明天míngtiān下xià了le课kè就jiù要yào回家huíjiā
I’m going home tomorrow right after finish the class.
(This is another good example showing that 了 le is not a past tense marker. )

Add more details with 了₁

S + V +了₁ + Number + Measure Word + O

他tā昨天zuótiān吃chī了le兩liǎng碗wǎn飯fàn他tā昨天zuótiān吃chī了le两liǎng碗wǎn饭fàn
He ate two bowls of rice yesterday.

我wǒ喝hē了le五wǔ杯bēi水shuǐ我wǒ喝hē了le五wǔ杯bēi水shuǐ
I drank 5 glasses of water.

老師lǎoshī給gěi了le你nǐ5 塊kuài錢qián嗎ma？ 老师lǎoshī给gěi了le你nǐ5 块kuài钱qián吗ma？
Did the teacher give you five dollars?

Time Duration

S + V +了₁ + Time spent + (的 de + O)

This pattern indicates the duration of a completed activity.

他tā晚上wǎnshàng看kàn了le兩liǎng個ge鐘頭zhōngtóu的de電視diànshì他tā晚上wǎnshang看kàn了le两liǎng个ge钟头zhōngtóu的de电视diànshì
He watched two hours of television at night.

他tā跟gēn他tā男朋友nánpéngyǒu交往jiāowǎng了le七qī年nián他tā跟gēn他tā男朋友nánpéngyǒu交往jiāowǎng了le七qī年nián
He was in a relationship with his boyfriend for seven years.

你nǐ以前yǐqián在zài台灣Táiwān學xué了le多久duōjiǔ的de中文zhōngwén？ 你nǐ以前yǐqián在zài台湾Táiwān学xué了le多久duōjiǔ的de中文zhōngwén？
How long did you study Chinese in Taiwan before？