How to use the modal particle 了(le) in Mandarin Chinese?

了 (le) is a versatile character and one of the most frequent characters used in Mandarin Chinese. 了 (le) as an aspectual particle is used to indicate the completion of an action or a change of state. In this post, we will see how 了 is used to show that something has changed over time and also how it is used with an intensifier to express an excessive or impressive amount or degree of something.

All the modal particles are placed at the end of a sentenceNo definition set for sentenceLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. to indicate supplementary meanings, grammatical relations, or moods. In the series on Mandarin modal particles, we have discussed 吗 (ma), 吧 (ba), 啊 (a), and 呢 (ne).

Let’s have a quick review by looking at how these words are used in a dialogue. Here, two people are discussing dinner plans:

At the end of the dialogue, Bobby says "太好了!" This is a simple and very common expression meaning "great!" (or more literally, "too good!"). But what is the 了 (le) in this expression? What is it there for, and what does it do?

了 (le) is placed at the end of a sentence to indicate that something (a person, object, situation, relationship, anything) has changed to a new or different state over time. This amount of time might be long or short, and it can either be implied or stated. It might be that your nephew has grown up since you last saw him, or that dinner is ready now (whereas before it was not).

Here is the pattern:

了 (le) is placed after an adjectiveNo definition set for adjectiveLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. and an intensifier (or an intensifier and an adjective) to indicate that something is too much:

There are four common intensifiers used in this type of sentence: 太 (tài), 可 (kě), 极 (jí), and 死 (sǐ), creating four variations on the sentence pattern. In two of them, 太 (tài) and 可 (kě), the intensifier comes first and then the adjective. In the other two, 极 (jí) and 死 (sǐ), the adjective comes first and the intensifier comes second. Notice that all four sentence types start with the subject (except when it’s implied) and end with 了 (le), and in between there is the adjective (such as 漂亮 (piàoliang, beautiful)) and the intensifier (such as 太 (tài, extremely)). The Mandarin Chinese character 是 (shì, be) is not used before the adjectives here.

Also notice that in addition to the notion of “too,” as in excessive, 了 (le) is also used to express the notion of “very,” as in “very tired.” This is like the word 很 (hěn, very), but moreso. If you are 很累 (hěn lèi) then you are very tired. If you are 累死了 (lèi sǐ le), then you are extremely tired — literally tired to death.

Let’s look at more examples to see how these patterns work.

The patterns mentioned above can indicate sarcastic meanings. Check out these ones:

了 (le) is used in the following pattern to show that a specified amount of time has passed and a condition either has or hasn’t changed.

了 (le) is usually placed at the end of a negative imperative sentence to ask people to stop doing something. The negative word 别 (bié, do not) is used in the pattern.

Imagine your roommate likes to touch your stuff, and you tell him 别摸我的东西！ (bié mō wǒde dōngxi, Don't touch my stuff!). Despite your request, your roommate keeps touching your stuff. At this point, you should add 了 (le) in the end of the sentence and say 别摸我的东西了！ (bié mō wǒde dōngxi le, Stop touching my stuff!). This statement implies that the person you’re speaking to (your grabby roommate) has been touching your stuff a lot, and this habit needs to stop now. It needs to change. Hence, 了 at the end of the statement.

Let's look at some more examples:

了 (le) is used with (快 (kuài)/就 (jiù)) 要 (yào) ... 了 (le) (be about to) to indicate an action or a change of state of affairs is going to take place soon. Check out our post on this!

了 (le) can be an aspectual particle, and it can also work as a modal particle, as we discussed in this post. 我们快来复习一下吧！ (wǒmen kuài lái fùxí yíxià ba, Let’s have a quick review!)

Now we have discussed all the modal particles: 吗 (ma), 吧 (ba), 啊 (a), 呢 (ne), and 了 (le)! 恭喜呀！ (gōngxǐ ya, Congrats!)
你准备好做练习题了吗？ (nǐ zhǔnbèi hǎo zuò liànxí tí le ma, Are you ready for some exercises?)
来吧，你一定可以的！ (láiba, nǐ yídìng kěyǐ de, Come on, you can make it!)