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

He went to China for work.

他去了中国工作。

<Tā qù le Zhōngguó gōngzuò.>

How many drinks did you drink?

你喝了几杯啤酒？

Nǐ hēle jǐ bēi píjiǔ?

I've bought a very expensive car.

我买了很贵的汽车。

<Wǒ mǎile hěn guì de qìchē.>

I have bought fruits.

我买了水果。

Wǒ mǎi le shuǐguǒ.

MORE DIFFICULT SENTENCES

I don’t want (it anymore). I’ve already drunk a lot of beer.

我不要了。我已经喝了很多啤酒。

Wǒ bù yào le. Wǒ yǐjīng hē le hěnduō píjiǔ.

LE change

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

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

She told me many things.

她给我说了很多东西。

<Tā gěi wǒ shuō le hěn duō dōngxi.>