了 le

  1. le particle completion of an action
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Function Words , Concept: Aspectual Particle 动态助词
    Notes: Traditional: 了; in this usage 了 is an aspectual particle 动态助词. Here 了 is placed after the verb and before its object to indicate that an action has been completed (Guoyu '了' le particle 2; Li Shaoqi, 2003, pp. 430-431; Ho 2002, '了' 1). For example, 他似乎明白了点 'he seemed to understand something.' (Lao She, 2003, p. 218) In this example the verb is 明白 'understand' and the object is 点 '[a little] something.' 了 cannot be used for non-action verbs, such as 喜欢, 是, 像. If there are two verbs in series then 了 should be placed after the second verb. 了 is the third most frequent word in the Beijing Language Institute's 1985 frequency wordlist (Ho 2002, '了').
  2. liǎo verb to know; to understand
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: Traditional: 了; in the sense of 明白 (Guoyu '了' liǎo v 1)
  3. liǎo verb to understand; to know
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: Traditional: 瞭; in the sense of 明白 or 清楚; as in 了解 (Guoyu '瞭' v 1)
  4. liào verb to look afar from a high place
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: Traditional: 瞭; in the sense of 远看 Guoyu '瞭' liào v 1)
  5. le particle modal particle
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Function Words , Concept: Modal Particle 语气助词
    Notes: Traditional: 了; in this use 了 appears at the end of a sentence as a modal particle 语气助词. Use as a modal particle differs from use as an aspectual particle after a verb in that a modal particle indicates the completion of the action for the whole sentence. Sometimes a modal particle is omitted if the sentence contains an aspectual particle and the action of the sentence is simple. There are two common uses: 1. 了 may be used at the end of a sentence to indicate a newly emerged condition (Guoyu '了' le particle 1; Ho 2002, '了' 2; Sun 2006, loc. 885). For example, 一切的路都封上了 'All the roads were closed.' (Lao She, 2003, p. 175) 2. 了 may be used at the end of a sentence to indicate a reminder, advice, or urging.
  6. le particle particle used in certain fixed expressions
    Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Function Words , Concept: Particle 助词
    Notes: Traditional: 了; in this use 了 is used in a set of fixed expressions, including 太...了, ...极了, 对了, and 好了 (Ho 2002, '了' 3; Li Shaoqi, 2003, p. 433). For example, 你帮几天忙好了 'Please help for a few days.' (Lao She, 2003, p. 176)
  7. liǎo verb to complete
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: Traditional: 了; in the sense of 结束 (Guoyu '了' liǎo v 2)
  8. liǎo adverb completely
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: Traditional: 了; in the sense of 完全 (Guoyu '了' liǎo adv 1)
  9. liǎo adjective clever; intelligent
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: Traditional: 了; in the sense of 聪明 or 慧黠 (Guoyu '了' liǎo adj)

Contained in

Also contained in

为了

Word is mentioned most frequently in

Truncated for common words