Finished Action

_THIS IS A TESTING BETA VERSION OF THE SITE_

I BOUGHT A CAR.

HE SAID THAT…

HE WENT TO CHINA.

Finished action is remotely equivalent to past tense and sometimes present perfect in English.

To indicate that the ACTION is finished, we put 了 /le/ right behind the verb.

ACTIONS are verbs like: TO BUY, TO GO, TO DRINK

ACTIONS aren’t verbs like: TO KNOW, TO WANT, TO FEEL

These are STATES and can’t be “finished”. They remain in the present form.

BASIC EXAMPLES

I (have) bought a lot of tea.

我买了很多茶。

Wǒ mǎi le hěnduō chá.

Where did you go?

你去了哪里？

Nǐ qù le nǎli?

I've bought a lot of things.

我买了很多东西。

<Wǒ mǎi le hěn duō dōngxi.>

I only drank four beers.

我只喝了四杯啤酒。

Wǒ zhǐ hēle sì bēi píjiǔ.

MORE DIFFICULT SENTENCES

How long time did you stay in Asia?

你在亚洲呆了多长时间？

<Nǐ zài Yàzhōu dāile duō cháng shíjiān?>

间 SPACE 时 TIME 时 TIME

She told me many things.

她给我说了很多东西。

<Tā gěi wǒ shuō le hěn duō dōngxi.>

I had a very interesting dream.

我做了很有意思的梦。

Wǒ zuòle hěn yǒuyìsi de mèng.

WORDS 意

He gave me a very expensive present.

他送了我很贵的礼物。

<Tā sòng le wǒ hěn guì de lǐwù.>

礼 RITUAL 物 OBJECT