“了” as an aspect particle and as a modal particle

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时态助词“了” 与语气助词“了”的用法

Youxuan Wang

2012-01-23

了

拼音：liǎo /  le

部首：乛

笔顺：52

This article will first distinguish the two ways in which the word “了” is used: (a) used as an aspect particle (时态助词 shítài zhùcí), and (b) used as a modal particle (语气助词 yǔqì zhùcí). It will then proceed to explain how they actually used as different types of particle.

Non-native speakers find this distinction too subtle to be noticeable, and native speakers who have no training in linguistics find this distinction too intuitive to be worthy of an explanation. However, the student of Chinese as a foreign language is not to be intimidated by the illusory complexity. You only need to know

• the difference between an aspect particle and a modal particle – The former is a word which is immediately suffixed to a verb to mark the tense of the verb; and the latter is used at the end of a sentence to express an attitude towards what is said in the sentence. By implication, “了” as an aspect particle and “了” as a modal particle are actually two different words, and the fact that they look identical and sound identical is merely a coincident.

• the way each of these two particles is actually used in sentences – You need pay special attention to two issues: (i) word order; and (ii) collocation. In other words, you need take note of where in the sentence each of the two particles is used; and you need pay attention to the question as to whether/how they should be collocated with other words to form a question, an affirmation and/or a negation.

This article attempts to explain these two main questions.

1.  How to Distinguish Them?

1A. “了” as an aspect particle:

•          it directly follows the verb;

•           it expresses a sense of completion, WITHIN the context of the sentence;

•          it is not used/ required in negative sentences (e.g. negative replies to questions with le);

•          it is usually followed by a specific object (eg. something quantified, or not too general), eg.:

我吃了三碗饭 wǒ chī le sānwǎn fàn。

I have eaten three bowls of rice.

你到了办公室，就给我打电话 nǐ dàole bàngōngshì, jìu géiwǒ dǎdiànhuà。

Call me as soon as you've arrived in your office.

他洗了澡，就去睡觉 tā xǐle zǎo, jìqù shuìjiào。

He finished taking his bath, and then went to bed. (He went to bed as soon as he finished taking his bath.)

1B. “了”as a modal particle:

• it comes at the end of the sentence (or sometimes at the end of a clause);
• it usually expresses a response to a change or unexpected/ undesirable circumstance;
• when used with a negative (不or 没有) it means, ‘no longer’ . (Note that, by contrast,  “了” as an aspect particle, never collocates with “不”or “没有”).

Examples:

我弟弟今年十二岁了 wǒ dìdi jīnnián shí'èr suì le。

My younger brother has celebrated his 12^th birthday this year. (Implication: this is a change in his life.)

对不起，他刚走了 duìbùqǐ, tā gāng zǒu le。

Unfortunately, he has just gone. (Implication: This is something unexpected to the listener.)

我昨天很忙，今天不忙了 wǒ zuótiān hěn máng, jīntiān bù máng le。

We was very busy yesterday, but not busy today.

(Implication: There is a change in my diary: I’m not as fully booked as yesterday.)

我没有钱了 wǒ méiyǒu qián le。

I have run out of money.

(Implication: I wasn’t short of cash previously.)
(Note that， here, in the sentence “我没有钱了”, “没有” is not an adverb negating the completion of a past action. It is a verb in its own right, meaning “lack” or “having no possession of”; and as such, it does not warrant the omission of the particle “了”.)

In short, when used as a modal particle, “了” does not mark the tense of a verb, but expresses an attitude towards some change or something unexpected.

2. How to use them?

2A. As aspect particle

(a) When the predicate consists in a verb-object phrase (VOP),  “了” is inserted between the verb and object, e.g.:

            写字 xiězì                    写了字 xiěle zì

            上课 shāngkè              上了课 shāngle kè

            唱歌 chànggē              唱了歌 chàngle gē

           

(b)  As is often the case, if the noun in the VOP is countable, it is to be quantified by means of a measure word:

            我写了一百个字 wǒ xiěle yībǎigè zì。

            I have written down a hundred words.

            我上了一堂课 wǒ shàngle yītáng kè。

            I have attended one session of class.

            我唱了一首歌 wǒ chàngle yīshǒu gē。

            I have sung one song.

(c) If the countable noun is not quantified, then,

(c.i)  "了" must be used twice: once between the verb and the object, and once again at the end of the entire VOP (or at the end of the entire sentence, if the VO-phrase is at the end of the sentence).

            我写了字了wǒ xiěle zì le。

            I have written (down some words).

            我上了课了 wǒ shàngle kè le。

            I have attended class.

            我唱了歌了 wǒ chàngle gē le。

            I have sung.

unless

(c.ii) the VOP is followed by another statement:

            我 写了字 就看书 wǒ xiěle zì jìu kànshū。

            (I finished writing and then started reading.)

            I started reading once I had completed my writing.

            我 上了课 就打球 wǒ shàngle kè jìu dǎqíu。

            (I finished my class and then started playing a ball game.)

            I started playing (basket-)ball once I had finished class.

            我 唱了歌 就跳舞 wǒ chàngle gē jìu tiàowǔ。

            (I finished singing, and then started dancing.)

            I started dancing once I had finished singing.

(d) A case in which the aspect particle “了” does not appear right after a verb: when the verb is immediately followed by another verb to form a predicate complex with two verbs in series (连谓). In this case, the actions indicated by two verbs in a series are both completed, and “了” is used summarily after the second verb. It is not to be used after the first verb; nor is it used twice.

他 去 上 班了 tā qù shàngbān le。

He has gone to work.

他们 开始 上 课了 tāmén kāishǐ shàngkè le。

They have started (to have)  their class session.

她 去同学家 看朋友 去了 tā qù tóngxuéjiā kàn péngyǒu qùle。

She went to her (former) classmate's home to meet friends.

If you haven't learnt about the construction of predicates in series (连谓结构)， the easiest way of understanding it at this stage is to think of this English sentence: "I came to see you." 连谓结构 is used to write Chinese sentences which translates such English sentences.

(e) In two obvious cases, the use of “了” is not necessary. This is because the notion that the action has been completed or event has taken place has been made explicit by means of a complement of a result indicating the completion, or by means of an adverbial of time spelling out the point of time for the particular action/event in question.

For instance, when the notion of completion has been made adequately by the word "完 wán" (used as a complement of result immediately following the relevant verb), the “了” can be optionally omitted for sake of stylistic brevity, e.g.:

       他吃完晚饭就去看电影。

Alternative, we can say:

       他吃了晚饭就去看电影。

Otherwise, stylistically speaking, the word “了” is used redundantly in the following sentence:

       他吃完 了 晚饭就去看电影。

Likewise, if the time of the past action in question has been clearly indicated by an adverbial of time such as “昨天下午”  (or “今天下午”  from the point of view of this evening)，“前天”，“去年” ，“以前”   etc, “了”would be superfluous. In the Hanyu Jiaocheng, part 1, Book 2 (IIa: p.1) , Zhang Dong says to Tian Fang “今天下午 我们 跟政法大学的代表队 比赛”, explaining why he failed to call Tian Fang back. Here, the “了” is, stylistically speaking, quite appropriately omitted. If Zhang Dong were not sensitive to stylistic norms, he could have said something clumsy like the following sentence:

       今天下午 我们 跟政法大学的代表队 比 了 赛。

The adverbial of time “今天下午” warrants the omission of “了”, if the phrase  “今天下午” in effect refers to a time in the past.

  
(f) If you want turn an affirmative sentence which contains the aspect particle “了” into a negative sentence, you can do so by prefixing the adverb “没有” to the verb whilst dropping the aspect particle, e.g.:
       他      吃了 晚饭 就 去 看 电影。
       他 没有 吃   晚饭 就 去 看 电影。

We should never use “不” to negate a verb in the past tense or present perfect tense. For this purpose, we use  “没有”; and when using “没有” , we also drop “了” .  

To sum up, syntactially speaking, an aspect particle is an integral part of the verb phrase and it serves to indicate the tense of the verb. If the notion of completion is already adequately expressed by the use of the word "完" as a complement of result or by the use of certain adverb of time, “了” can/should be dropped.

2.B. As modal particle

(a) “了”  is usually used at the end of a sentence, e.g:

            田芳去哪儿 了 Tián Fāng qù nǎ'ér le?

            Where has Tian Fang gone to? (Where is Tian Fang? )

            你下午做什么 了 nǐ xiàwǔ zuò shěnme le?

            What did you do this afternoon?

            我踢足球 了 wǒ tī zúqíu le。

            I went to play football.

            你们队又输球 了 吧 nǐmén duì yòu shūqíu le ba?

            You lost again, didn’t you?

            你学会开车 了 吗 nǐ xuéhuì kāichē le ma？

            Have you taken driving lessons and can you drive now?

(b) “了” is not to be used in a negative answer to an affirmative-negative question (…… 了没有？)， e.g.:

田芳回来了没有 Tián  Fāng huíláile  méiyǒu?

Has Tianfang come back home?

·         回来了。 (affirmative answer.)

·         没有回来。(negative answer.)

张东又给我来电话了没有 Zhāng Dōng yòu géi  wǒ láidiànhuàle méiyǒu?

Did Zhangdong ring me again?

·         张东又来电话了。 (affirmative answer.)

·         张东没有又来电话。(negative answer.)

你通过考试了没有 tā tōngguòle kǎoshì méiyǒu?

Did you pass your examination?

·         我通过考试了。 (affirmative answer.)

·         我没有通过考试。(negative answer.)

At any rate, a modal particle is not an integral part of the verb phrase. It does not serve to mark the tense of the verb. Instead, it expresses a response or an attitude towards the proposition expressed by the entire statement. For this reason, it appears at the end of the sentence.

3. Conclusion:

The distinction between the use of the word  “了”  as aspect particle and “了”  as modal particle:

• As aspect particle, it indicates that an action (referred to by the verb it immediately follows) is completed. Hence, it is used right after the verb. (It modifies the sense of the verb which it follows.)

• As modal particle, it expresses the speaker's judgement or opinion about the occurrence of a new situation that the entire statement describes. Hence, it is used at the very end of the sentence to modify the meaning of the entire proposition. (It modifies the meaning of the basic statement it is attached to.)

They both share the sense of completeness, though. The aspect particle indicates the completion of an action, whiles the modal particle indicates a change in situation which the entire sentence describes and also expresses a response on the speaker's part.

Exercises:
Wang, Youxuan. 'Exercises:  “了” as an aspect particle and as a modal particle'. Intensive English Blog. 2012-01-25. URL: <http://intensive-chinese.blogspot.com/2012/01/exercises-in-using-particle-liao3.html>.