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.>

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?

I fell in love with her.

我爱上了她。

<Wǒ àishang le tā.>

MORE DIFFICULT SENTENCES

I've bought her a very expensive present.

我给她买了很贵的礼物。

<Wǒ gěi tā mǎile hěn guì de lǐwù.>

礼 RITUAL COMPARING 物 OBJECT

How long time did you stay in Asia?

你在亚洲呆了多久？

<Nǐ zài Yàzhōu dāile duōjiǔ?>

I told him but he wouldn't listen.

我给他说了，可是他不听。

<Wǒ gěi tā shuō le, kěshì tā bù tīng.>

COMMUNICATION

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