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 only drank four beers.

我只喝了四杯啤酒。

Wǒ zhǐ hēle sì bēi píjiǔ.

I (have) bought a lot of tea.

我买了很多茶。

Wǒ mǎi le hěnduō chá.

I've bought a lot of things.

我买了很多东西。

<Wǒ mǎi le hěn duō dōngxi.>

I've bought a very expensive car.

我买了很贵的汽车。

<Wǒ mǎile hěn guì de qìchē.>

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

How long time did you stay in Asia?

你在亚洲呆了多久？

<Nǐ zài Yàzhōu dāile duōjiǔ?>

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

I discussed many things with him.

我跟他谈了很多事。

<Wǒ gēn tā tán le hěn duō shì.>