(le) - aspect particle marking completion or a change of state in Mandarin

le

Traditional: 了

Also read liǎo as a verb, to finish or to understand

Line drawing of 了
Coloured illustration of 了
HSK 1
#4 of 2,700Core 1000

Translation

aspect particle marking completion or a change of state

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Word origin

了 as liǎo means to finish or to grasp fully; as le it is the aspect particle marking completion or change. The graph is often analysed as a pictograph of a child with bound arms.

Origin
pictograph
Root
了 (liǎo/le), a child with bound arms

Stroke order

Stroke order for 了

了

Examples

。

I understand what you mean.

。

I can't handle this matter.

明míng。

He finally understood.

。

This matter goes on and on without end.

。

He has settled a matter weighing on his mind.

了 is most often the aspect particle le, marking a completed action or a change of state. The same character, read liǎo, also means to finish or to understand.

Where this fits

Appears in 12 words

Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 了.

Used in

Stories

(60)

Grammar articles

(74)

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Mandarin · Free printables

了: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "了" (aspect particle marking completion or a change of state): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

This word is taught in chapter 2, lesson 1: 了, 的, 我 and 10 more words.