Chinese Grammar Review “了” Mrs. JI Hua
Grammar Review: Perfect Aspect Particle “了”
Aspect Particles are added to verbs to tell in what stage an action is.
Perfect Aspect Particle “了” is used to indicate the completion of an action.
Place of了 in a sentence:
Immediately after the verb (before the objects)
· This form stresses the object. A further dialogue may be followed on the object.
我喝了三杯啤酒。I drank 3 glasses of beer. (3 glasses of beer were consumed.)
Further dialogue: 什么啤酒？/ 什麽啤酒？
我看了一个法国电影。/ 我看了一個法國電影。I watched a French movie.
Further dialogue: 这个电影怎么样？/ 這個電影怎麽樣？
· The object of “Verb 了” is usually qualified by a “Number + Measure Word” structure or other modifiers to give more detailed information.
我喝了两杯花茶。/ 我喝了兩杯花茶。
我认识了一个漂亮的女孩儿。/ 我認識了一個漂亮的女孩兒。
他看了很多书。/ 他看了很多書。He read a lot of books.
After the object for “verb-object” verbs
Some verbs consist of a combination: the first character is the verb and the second and third the object, i.e. 喝啤酒 is considered a compound verb with 喝as a verb and 啤酒 its own object.
· This form stresses the event or fact that the action did happen.
他去咖啡馆了。/ 他去咖啡館了。He went to a café.
(“The event that he went to a café” did happen. We know nothing about the name of the café or if he drank any coffee….. )
他喝啤酒了。
Stress: “the fact that he drank some beer” happened.
· The structure “Verb + Object” can be considered as a compound verb, sometimes they are called “Verb Object” verbs.
我去商店(shāng diàn=shop)了。 I did go to a shop.
你今天下午做什么了？ - 我看书了。What did you do this afternoon? Reading books.
In this case, there are no modifiers before the object.
Compound verbs we have learned so far include:
唱歌 吃饭 打工 打球 回家 看书 看电影 跳舞 去学校 上课 聊天 请客 睡觉
唱歌 吃飯 打工 打球 回家 看書 看電影 跳舞 去學校 上課 聊天 請客 睡覺
了 and Past Tense: Very often, a completed action took place in the past.
上个周末，我在图书馆认识了一个中国女生。
上個周末，我在圖書館認識了一個中國女生。
Last weekend, I met a Chinese girl student in the library.
我昨天晚上喝了三杯啤酒。I drank 3 cups of beer yesterday evening.
Negative form of the Perfect Aspect of Action: add 没有 or 没 before the verb.
他没有吃饭。I didn’t eat.
他没喝那杯茶。He didn’t drink that cup of tea.
她没看书。/ 她没看書。She didn’t read books. Note: 1. You need to DROP “了” in a negative perfect aspect of action.
2. Both 没有 and 没 are correct, but没 is more colloquial.
3. 没 as a negative adverb for perfect aspect of action cannot be used in Present and Future tenses.
Interrogative form of the Perfect Aspect of Action:
Form 1: add 吗？/ 嗎？at the end of your affirmative sentence.
Affirmative: 我看书了。/ 我看書了。
Interrogative: 你看书了吗？/ 你看書了嗎？
Affirmative: 我看了一本中文书。/ 我看了一本中文書。
Interrogative 1: 你看中文书了吗？/ 你看中文書了嗎？
Form 2: add 没有？at the end of your affirmative sentence.
Interrogative: 你看书了没有？/ 你看書了没有？
Form 3: Affirmative-Negative: V 没 V
Interrogative: 你看没看书？/ 你看没看書？
Form 4: Other interrogative forms using question words such as what, how many……
Interrogative 1: 你看了几本中文书？/ 你看了幾本中文書？
Interrogative 2: 你看了一本什么书？/ 你看了一本什麽書？
For sentences with multiple verbs, follow these guidelines:
· affirmative statements: put 了 after the last verb or action
He came and drank three glasses of beer! 他来喝了三杯啤酒。/ 他來喝了三杯啤酒。
He went to the library to read. 他去图书馆看书了。/ 他去圖書館看書了。
· negative statements: put 没 or 没有 before the first verb
He didn't come to eat. 他没来吃饭。/ 他没來吃飯。
· affirmative-negative questions: make the first verb affirmative-negative
Did he come to eat? 他来没来吃饭？/ 他來沒來吃飯？
Do not use “了” when:
A past action is NOT always followed by “了”.
For a straight narration of past events, it is not necessary to use 了 unless the completion of the action is being stressed.
昨天是小李的生日，我和同学们一起去小李家玩儿。小李家很大，也很漂亮。……
昨天是小李的生日，我和同學們一起去小李家玩兒。小李家很大，也很漂亮。……
When you give background information of a completed action, “了” is not needed.
昨天是小李的生日，我和同学们一起去小李家玩儿。在小李家，我喝了一杯啤酒。
昨天是小李的生日，我和同學們一起去小李家玩兒。在小李家，我喝了一杯啤酒。
了 is not used with verbs describing state, emotion/will or habitual actions.
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