Mandarin · Chapter 9 · Lesson 7 · Grammar primer
Resultative complements
Prescribed by the AQA specification.
The short version
The 了 (le) goes after the result, not inside it
看见 (kàn jiàn), 吃完 (chī wán) and 找到 (zhǎo dào) fuse into single units, so treat verb-plus-result as one longer verb: 我吃完了 (wǒ chī wán le), never 我吃了完 (wǒ chī le wán). Negate the whole unit with 没 (méi) and the 了 (le) drops: 我没看见他 (wǒ méi kàn jiàn tā). 不 (bù) negates willingness and habit, which is not what a failed outcome is.
我吃完了。 Wǒ chī wán le.
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Lesson 7 of 7 in this chapter