A2 · Grammar reference · ASGT185D
Change of state with "le"
了 (le) has many uses. You probably first learned 了 (le) as a particle that tells you an action is completed, which is also known as "了1." However, this article is not about that use of 了 (le); instead, it is about indicating a change of state (了2). In other words, there is now a new situation, or there is about to be a new situation. This whole "change of state" idea can take numerous forms, and this page includes some helpful examples.
- Keywords
- 了
- Used for
- Expressing result · Referring to changes of situation · Indicating conditions
- Classification
- Particles · HSK3
Examples (14)
我饿了。
孩子们都累了。
妈妈老了。
你胖了。
你是不是生气了？
下雨了。
宝宝会说话了。
他当经理了。
你有女朋友了？
我男朋友找到新工作了。
我不买了。
我不回家吃晚饭了。
我不去看电影了。
我不结婚了。
Further resources
Learn from another explanation
- A compact explanation of state change, contrasted with completed actions and past time.
- A collection of contextual lessons tagged for 了, including change-of-state examples.
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Summary, structure, classification, and adapted sentence examples draw from the AllSet Learning Chinese Grammar Wiki under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; changes were made. This noncommercial reference is based on an October 2023 snapshot.
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