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've bought a lot of things.

我买了很多东西。

<Wǒ mǎi le hěn duō dōngxi.>

What movie did you watch?

你看了什么电影？

Nǐ kàn le shénme diànyǐng?

I only drank four beers.

我只喝了四杯啤酒。

Wǒ zhǐ hēle sì bēi píjiǔ.

Where did you go?

你去了哪里？

Nǐ qù le nǎli?

MORE DIFFICULT SENTENCES

We got used to a safe life environment.

我们习惯了安全的生活环境。

Wǒmen xíguànle ānquán de shēnghuó huánjìng.

WORDS 生 SAFE - DANGEROUS

Yesterday I drank quite a lot of (not a little) Chinese tea.

我昨天喝了不少绿茶。

<Wǒ zuótiān hē le bù shǎo lǜchá.>

I've found that he doesn't live in Shanghai (anymore).

我发现了他不住在上海了。

<Wǒ fāxiàn le tā bù zhù zài Shànghǎi le.>

WORDS 发

How long time did you stay in Asia?

你在亚洲呆了多久？

<Nǐ zài Yàzhōu dāile duōjiǔ?>