talkiNG aBoUt ChaNGe, NeW SitUatioNS, aNd ChaNGiNG SitUatioNS
38.238.1.3 actions that continue into the future: double 了 le sentences
Sentence final 了 le can be used with the perfective aspect suffix 了 le to signal that a certain
portion of an action is complete but that the action is continuing into the future. Sentences like
these are sometimes described as having ‘double 了 le,’ and the function of the sentence final
了 le is sometimes described as indicating the ‘present relevance’ of the situation.他已经睡了十个钟头了。
他已經睡了十個鐘頭了。
Tā yǐjing shuì le shí gè zhōngtóu le.
He has already slept for ten hours.
C34.738.1.4 Situations that do not exist anymore
To indicate that a situation does not exist anymore, add sentence final 了 le to the end of
a negated sentence:negated sentence + sentence final 了 le
她不吃肉了。
Tā bù chī ròu le.
She doesn’t eat meat anymore.太阳出来了。不冷了。
太陽出來了。不冷了。
Tàiyáng chūlái le. Bù lěng le.
The sun has come out. (It) isn’t cold anymore.38.1.5 imminent occurrences and imminent change
Sentence final 了 le can be used to indicate that a situation will happen soon. Often, an adverb or
adverbial phrase such as 快 kuài, 快要 kuài yào, or 就要 jiù yào occurs before the [prepositional
phrase +] verb phrase to emphasize the fact that the situation will happen soon.我们快到了。
我們快到了。
Wǒmen kuài dào le.
We will be arriving soon.我快要做完了。
Wǒ kuài yào zuòwán le.
I’m just about done.38.2 Comparing sentences with and without sentence final 了 le
Notice how sentence final 了 le changes the meaning of the sentence. Without sentence final
了 le, the sentence is a description of a situation. With sentence final 了 le, the sentence focuses
on a change.No sentence final 了 le Sentence final 了 le我会看中文报。 我会看中文报了。
我會看中文報。 我會看中文報了。
Wǒ huì kàn Zhōngwén bào. Wǒ huì kàn Zhōngwén bào le.
I can read Chinese newspapers. I can read Chinese newspapers now.