了 le marks completion

Example sentences

他来了。Tā lái le.He has come.
我买了一本书。Wǒ mǎi le yì běn shū.I bought a book.

HSK 1 — the first of the six levels: 150 words. You can greet people, say who you are and ask simple questions. In HSK 3.0, 了 is in band 1. HSK 1 explained

Hear Xiaolu on 了 · 0:10 Talkhao's spoken-Chinese tutor

The word中了marks that something is completed. You might say中我买了一本书。

I bought a book. Say it with me.

Continue with Xiaolu → Your first 10-minute talk is free.

Report this clip

Stroke order

了 is written in 2 strokes.

了 — the Chinese character for marks completion (le), stroke diagram — Stroke diagram for 了 — marks completion

Senses

(completed action marker)
(modal particle indicating change of state, situation now)
(modal particle intensifying preceding clause)

How 了 is used

了 marks completion: after the verb, or closing the clause (我买了一本书).

Related words

Where 了 lives

HSK 1 list Practise HSK 3.0 · band 1 Practise Topic: Grammar words Practise

了 is pronounced le and means “marks completion”.