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 after 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.>

I've bought a very expensive car.

我买了很贵的汽车。

<Wǒ mǎile hěn guì de qìchē.>

Where did you go?

你去了哪里？

Nǐ qù le nǎli?

What movie did you watch?

你看了什么电影？

Nǐ kàn le shénme diànyǐng?

MORE DIFFICULT SENTENCES

I have bought many Chinese books in China.

我在中国买了很多中文书。

<Wǒ zài Zhōngguó mǎi le hěnduō Zhōngwén shū.>

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?>

Last time I drank a very good tea here.

上次我在这里喝了很好的茶。

Shàng cì wǒ zài zhèli hē le hěn hǎo de chá.

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.>