How to use le in Chinese - 怎么用“了” - Basic Chinese Grammar - Elementary/Intermediate Chinese
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 มิ.ย. 2024
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This video is about how to use 了 (le).
There are many videos online teaching how to use 了，but I promise you, this one is the one that can really help you fully understand 了 and you will start your first step in building a Chinese-thinking mind from today!
了 is one of the most complicated Chinese words.
It has three usages:
01:07 了 in set phrase
【Some set phrases include:
太 + adj. + 了 (tài + adj. + le, extremely, so, very)；
adj. + 死了 (adj. + sǐ le, extremmely, so adj. that I could die)；
adj. + 极了 (adj. + jí le, extremely, super)；
可 + adj. + 了(kě + adj + le, very)；
就要/快要/快/要 + v. + 了 (jiù yào/kuài yào/kuài/yào + v. + le, be about to, very soon)，
别 + v. + 了 (bié + v. + le, stop doing)，
已经 + v./adj. + 了 (yǐ jīng + v./adj. + le, already)】
02:33 了 indicates change of state
04:56 了 emphasises completion of an action
The most important idea starts from 06:35. It can help you finally understand how to use 了.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a comment!
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I’m a native Mandarin speaker and I don’t even know most of these rules because they just so instinctive to me! This video is making me appreciate the power of language and how language changes the way we think.
你是中国从哪个地方？
我是中国从广东
@@Bobo-de8zt OK。 你是女人吗？
我也是！从前我从未意识到中文里“了”“就”之类的字的用法如此复杂，因为它们都是生活中最常用的字词。中文虽然没有复杂的词性和时态，但最基础的字词确实不容易用得地道
I had the same epiphany about English. Once I started learning other languages, it opened my eyes to how my own worked on a deeper level
"You need to throw out your brain to understand Chinese"
Challenge accepted.
😂😂😂
说老师，真的谢谢! For me, grasping the concept of 了 I’m completed actions only made sense when I learned French. For example, in French, when talking about the past, there’s usually the completed/perfect past and the imperfect past. The French imperfect past (e.g. Je voulais devenir medecin) is clearer than it’s English counterpart. In English, the translation is: I “wanted” to become a doctor. It’s not really obvious in English whether the verb, wanted, was completed back then. You would need to say things like, “I had wanted”.
TLDR: It’s easy to learn another language such as Mandarin Chinese when you can draw on other languages for reference points.
@@karltorento3358 Did you mean 老實說?
@@karltorento3358 How would you say in French "I had wanted to become a doctor but didn't succeed?"
@@martinphipps2 No, Karl was addressing the video creator by calling her Teacher Shuo; the name goes before the title "Teacher" in Chinese, unlike in English when you put the last name after Mr./M(r)s.
You are a very good Chinese teacher, of you are not already working at a really good institution, you should consider applying, because i can assure you most my Chinese teachers i ever had in person or online could never explain 了 as clearly as you did. I know you said the sole credit is not yours, but you took the time to research a way those who dont speak fluent mandarin could understand.
Stay where you are. Be free. Your methods are perfect.
The exact reason why she can use her own method to expain it so well is that she does not work for any institution and does not have to adjust to any one. She is a creator of her own success , not someone else's :)
I got my "aha" moment thanks to you ^^ not sure I can use it well still but it was really helpful !
I’m agree with you 👍
You know, a lot of Chinese teachers tell me that 了 means past tense and they get angry when I tell them it doesn't.
from my point, mandarin don’t actually have a ‘past tense’ like English does😂
@@donaldj.trumpet4205 Yes but a LOT of Chinese teachers think 了 indicates past tense. It probably means they don't understand the difference between the past tense and the present perfect. 我寫完了 does not mean "I wrote". It means "I have finished writing."
Martin Phipps yeah, exactly! I totally agree with you. I’m a Chinese native speaker and I really appreciate that English has categorized tenses in a relatively specific way compared to mandarin (verbs actually have no tense at all). It sometimes makes the language more accurate and simple in my opinion. While in this case Chinese has to rely on some time indicators in discourse when the tense is not present.
In linguistics we have an gramtical category called "aspect" which expresses how an action, event, or state, denoted by a verb, extends over time. I've never seen chinese textbooks using this idea of aspect to teach Chinese for foreigners. You can think of 了 (finished action) as an aspect particle maybe like 着 or 在. In English, we have simple past, past perfect, past progressive for example. The tense are all past, but the action is in different progressions.
The simple past is the simple present in the past time.
"I went to school" is the same as " i go to school" just in the past time
The present perfekt should be rendered as le and past perfekt as le reffering to completed actions in the past.
In a word, “了” in Chinese indicates the perfect aspect （完成体）instead of the past tense（过去时）. In Chinese, tenses are indicated by time words.
And the _perfect_ aspect indicates that an action is done. So why does 我太困了 mean "I _am_ sleepy"? That state is still going on.
Emphasising just how sleepy you are, as in, I am too tired!@@xXJ4FARGAMERXx
I'm a Japanese learning Chinese. This was one of the most comprehensible videos of 了！！
Yo. Same. I'm also japanese learning chinese. People keep telling me that my japanese is helping me learn chinese. Tbh it really doesn't help to know japanese.
@@FDE-fw1hd I hope someone can teach me Japanese and I teach him Chinese cos I'm Chinese,hahahaha
I am not a native English speaker myself but for some reason when I am listening to you I dont feel any language barrier. I feel like you are talking so clear and understandable. Maybe it is because you are a great teacher :):P Good work keep it up !
Me too
As a native speaker,I think it's very hard to explain"le" to foreigners,but you do it.I think"le"is more than a past tense,but I can't say its other meanings until I watched this video.你太厉害“了”。
My Chinese is still too basic to understand all of the words you used here, but I think I still totally understood the rules of when to use "le" - thank you for explaining so well!
Frienzoned in a chinese class! Achievement unlocked!
The idea you're talking about near 6:34 in linguistics uses the names "speech time" (you call "the present", which is usually close enough) and "event time". What you call "the point in time that the context shows us" is called "reference time". In English, reference time shows up when you use future perfect tense: "When you read this, your video will have been published for six months". "When you read this" establishes a reference time after my speech (comment) time. The "will" puts the "event" in my future, while "have been" establishes that the event (your video being published) was completed in the past relative to the reference time.
Keep all that Reichenbachian stuff away from here man. Most people just want to learn how to use a language, not how to be linguists.
我知道了，谢谢！ Little English tip: "I _hope_ this video will give you an Aha moment" instead of "I wish..." This is pretty subtle.
"Wish" can be used with a noun phrase, like "I wish you a Merry Christmas." This is a positive sentiment, like the one you expressed.
Or, "wish" can be used with a verb in a hypothetical, like "I wish it were snowing right now," or "I wish I had studied harder," but in these cases it's generally a sentiment of disappointment. "I wish things were different".
"Wish" used with a future verb, as you've used it, sounds quite unnatural to my American ears. You could say "I wish it weren't going to rain tomorrow," which is about the future, but still hypothetical and still with the flavor of disappointment. But for a purely positive wish for the future with a verb, use "hope" instead: "I hope it will be sunny tomorrow." And hope also works with nouns, so "I hope for sun" also works.
If you want a rule of thumb, I'd use "wish" when you want to imply the wish goes unfulfilled and "hope" when you want to leave that open-ended.
Very clear, thank you!
This was so helpful! Thank you!
This was really useful! Thank you!
Great video! Thank you so much!! The third way makes more sense now.
I totally understand now this is so helpful!!!
谢谢！ This video was extremely helpful!
This was really helpful. Thanks, Shuo!
That was amazing shuoshuo 😍 谢谢
So helpful 😱💫❤️
Thanks a lot!
Amazing video! Helped me a lot! Thank you!
This was extremely helpful. Thank you!
This is very very helpful. Thank you so much!
I love your examples. This is why I subbed
谢谢老师
You made it so easy to understand, thank you.
Ahhhh this makes so much sense!!! Thank you so much this is something that has confused me for aaages!
I’ve been watching you for a while now and I think I’m ready to take your course.
Brilliant, very helpful thank you
Very helpful, thank you !❤
good video, its nice and clear with some good examples
you are good! I understand this like never before.
You honestly explain things so well!! such a fantastic teacher
The time machine concept- brilliant! Thank you!
Thank you so much! ❤️
Very comprehensive! 谢谢！
你太好了👌💖
thank you so much!
Very very interesting your video about Le! 🔝🔝🔝
你解释得很清楚。谢谢
You're so good!! Don't stop of making these videos, you're helping me a lot ❤☺
Wow! You are so informative!
you are brilliant, thanks.
谢谢。您的在线课很有意思！
Fantastic lesson. Thank you ever so much
Thank you so much for your work! :D All your videos are so interesting and clear. I watch them all with great pleasure! :)
Very well explained. Thank you :o)
Thank you for this excellent explanation.
Thanks!
Wow you make this grammar so clear, easy and useful. Thanks!
this is brilliant for learning chinese!
literally, the best explanation of the notorious ＂ 了 ＂I've seen! 👏👏🙏
Thank u so much, this video is really useful!
This is by far the best explanation of 了, you enlightened me! 非常感谢，说说！
Wow, what a great explanation of how to use 了 I think I can actually start using it correctly now.
honestly thank you so much
I respect your teaching style, thank you very much!
This video literally blow my mind thank you so much
One of the best explanations of "le' I have heard. You really gave me that "aha" moment!
What a great explanation!
thank you!!
Been living in China 7 years and still you gave me several Aha moments with this video! Well done ☺️
Very useful, thank you
Your content is so positive and useful! Please make more videos :)
This was so helpful. I never was taught how to use 了 so I just placed it after a verb when I meant past tense. This has cleared up so much confusion for me. 我知道了
💛💙thanks. very helpful!
Thank you
amazing! thank you!
Very very useful
Very good to remind those "simple things" in the Chinese language.. THANK YOU!
You’re such a good Chinese teacher!!! Your videos are helping me a lot☺️
This is the best explanation of 了 I have ever heard. It really did clarify the use for me in a new way.
Thank you explain very well
Very well explained. Thank you Sister
BEST EXPLANATION EVER!!!!
Useful knowledge
This video is gold.
I still have my Nintendo Donkey Kong 2 ‘game’n’watch’. I’m so happy to learn that it can also function as a time machine. Loved this lesson. Yes, these aspects of time tense logic have often seemed mysterious and almost incomprehensible. This could be a mini revolution in this aspect of my learning, thank you!
very well explained
There is also another structure for 了: it's called the "double 了" sentence. It's used to describe an action which started in the past and is still in progress at this moment. Example: 我学了两年的汉语了 (I started to study Chinese 2 years ago and I am still studying today).
But doesn’t it mean a completion of an action?
很棒的视频，看了三遍，Ah Ha! 谢谢老师
🤯 I feel like I did a huge jump on my knowledge today! 谢谢
Thankss !
Good explanation, I like you
You are such an amazing teacher.
thanks a lot!😁
您的课程非常有益。 谢谢老师。
Good and helpful video, GOD bless you
非常好
Thus all made soooo much sense! Thanks! I sure had a lot of "aha" moments 😊
I have been studying Chinese for a few months now, and I found your videos very helpful. Thank you for the great content offered in your channel.
Life changing information 🤩
OMG, you explain the meaning and usage of "了" so well! The time machine concept made for a very clear explanation.
Great 👍
你最棒了老师！
You explained it so well
Well done !!!
Very helpful. You explained more about use of le in this short video than three teachers I had over the last few years. And funny Trump joke.