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Hi, I'm Fame Ketover of Lenguin.com and this is Mandarin Chinese.
If you listen to Chinese, you'll notice "le" is used a lot.
Today we'll explore a couple of its meanings.
Let's get started.
Listen to a discussion of how long Mr. King has already been in Taiwan.
How long have you been here?
Nǐ láile duó jiǔ le?
Nǐ láile duó jiǔ le?
I have been here three days.
Wǒ láile sāntiān le.
Wǒ láile sāntiān le.
Notice that the sentences have two "le" markers.
The "le" marker after the verb marks completed action.
The "le" marker after the duration phrase marks a new situation.
In the plain sentence
"Tā láile."
("He's come.")
the two "le" markers are combined into one.
But when there is a duration expression after the verb,
each of the two meanings is expressed by a separate marker.
Listen to the exchange again.
How long have you been here?
Nǐ láile duó jiǔ le?
Nǐ láile duó jiǔ le?
I have been here three days.
Wǒ láile sāntiān le.
Wǒ láile sāntiān le.
When you're talking about the present,
a new situation marker "le" can be translated "as of now".
In duration sentences however a better equivalent
is the expression "so far", as in, "I've been here three days so far."
The "so far" translation suggests that whatever has been going on for the amount of time you mentioned,
will keep going on.
Here's the exchange again, live.
Nǐ láile duó jiǔ le?
Wǒ láile sāntiān le.
You may have noticed that in English we talk about the situation, "I've been here for three days."
While in Chinese you talk about the action that brought the situation about,
"Wǒ láile sāntiān le."
The function of a new situation "le" marker can best be understood
if we consider a situation in which it would not be used.
Listen to this continuation of the conversation,
which is taking place after Mr. and Mrs. King have both arrived in Taiwan.
How long did your wife stay in Hong Kong?
Nǐ tàitai zài Xiānggǎng zhù le duó jiǔ?
Nǐ tàitai zài Xiānggǎng zhù le duó jiǔ?
She stayed two days.
Tā zhù le liǎngtiān.
Tā zhù le liǎngtiān.
Since Mrs. King is no longer in Hong Kong, Mr. King can't say that she -has- been there two days -now-.
You have to say she -was- there for two days.
So the new situation marker "le" is not used.
Listen to the exchange live.
Nǐ tàitai zài Xiānggǎng zhù le duó jiǔ?
Tā zhù le liǎngtiān.
Try translating it.
Nǐ tàitai zài Xiānggǎng zhù le duó jiǔ?
How long did your wife stay in Hong Kong?
Tā zhù le liǎngtiān.
She stayed two days.
Let's compare sentences with and without the new situation marker "le".
How long did she stay there?
Tā zhù le duó jiǔ?
Tā zhù le duó jiǔ?
How long has she been there?
Tā zhù le duó jiǔ le?
Tā zhù le duó jiǔ le?
The first sentence with one "le" marker after the verb
only asks about how long the activity took place - "How long did she stay?"
The second sentence with two "le" markers
asks about how long the activity has been taking place as of now.
Let's go back to an earlier sentence.
You'll remember that we said that in a sentence,
"Tā lái le."
("She's come."),
the "le" marker
had two meanings: completed action and new situation.
Now listen to the same sentence said under different circumstances.
Mr. King is being asked whether someone
came to a party he gave the previous week.
Did he come?
Tā lái le ma?
Tā lái le ma?
Yes, he came.
Lái le, tā lái le.
Lái le, tā lái le.
In this context, since the man could not be still at a party that took place a week before,
the syllable "le" after the verb
"lái"
is taken to be the completed action "le" alone and is translated with the English past tense.
Here's the exchange live.
Tā lái le ma?
Lái le, tā lái le.
Try translating it.
Tā lái le ma?
Did he come?
Lái le, tā lái le.
Yes, he came.
Now listen to how Mr. King would have answered
if the person hadn't come to his party.
Did he come?
Tā lái le ma?
Tā lái le ma?
No, he didn't.
Méi lái, tā méi lái.
Méi lái, tā méi lái.
Notice that since there was no new situation "le" in the affirmative sentence, there was no
"hái"
("yet") in the negative sentence.
Compare a sentence which negates just completed action "le" to a sentence which negates combined "le".
He didn't come.
Tā méi lái.
Tā méi lái.
He hasn't come (or, He hasn't come yet.)
Tā hái méi lái.
Tā hái méi lái.
Here's the exchange live.
Tā lái le ma?
Méi lái, tā méi lái.
Try translating it.
Tā lái le ma?
Did he come?
Méi lái, tā méi lái.
No, he didn't.
The following dialogue takes place shortly after Mr. Perez, a Foreign Service Officer,
has arrived at the American Embassy Chinese Language School
in Taichung for language learning.
Listen.
Bái Xiānsheng, nǐ láile jǐtiān le?
Wǒ láile sìtiān le.
Nǐ zài Xiānggǎng zhùle duó jiǔ?
Wǒ zhùle yīge yüè.
Nǐ xiǎng zài zhèli zhù duó jiǔ?
Wǒ xiǎng zhù liǎngnián.
Try translating it.
Bái Xiānsheng, nǐ láile jǐtiān le?
Mr. Perez, how many days have you been here?
Wǒ láile sìtiān le.
I've been here four days.
Nǐ zài Xiānggǎng zhùle duó jiǔ?
How long did you stay in Hong Kong?
Wǒ zhùle yīge yüè.
I stayed one month.
Nǐ xiǎng zài zhèli zhù duó jiǔ?
How long are you thinking of staying here?
Wǒ xiǎng zhù liǎngnián.
I'm thinking of staying two years.
Now listen to Miss Lin ask Mr. Perez if he has been in Taiwan before.
Have you ever been here before?
Nǐ cóngqián láiguo ma?
Nǐ cóngqián láiguo ma?
I have never been here before.
Wǒ cóngqián méi láiguo.
Wǒ cóngqián méi láiguo.
Here's the word for "formerly" or "before".
cóngqián
cóngqián
cóngqián
We translated the marker
"guò"
of
"láiguo"
with the word "ever" in the affirmative and "never" in the negative.
This marker is used to talk about whether someone has ever experienced a certain kind of event.
The completed action marker "le" on the other hand is used to talk about a particular single event.
Listen to the exchange again.
Have you ever been here before?
Nǐ cóngqián láiguo ma?
Nǐ cóngqián láiguo ma?
I have never been here before.
Wǒ cóngqián méi láiguo.
Wǒ cóngqián méi láiguo.
Notice that the marker
"guò"
like the completed action marker "le" is negated with
"méi"
rather than
"bù".
But while the marker "le" drops out in the negative sentence, the marker
"guò"
stays.
Here's the exchange live.
Nǐ cóngqián láiguo ma?
Wǒ cóngqián méi láiguo.
Try translating it.
Nǐ cóngqián láiguo ma?
Have you ever been here before?
Wǒ cóngqián méi láiguo.
I have never been here before.
Now listen to a slightly expanded version of this exchange, live.
Nǐ cóngqián láiguo ma?
Wǒ cóngqián méi láiguo.
Wǒ tàitai láiguo.
Try translating it.
Nǐ cóngqián láiguo ma?
Have you ever been here before?
Wǒ cóngqián méi láiguo.
I have never been here before.
Wǒ tàitai láiguo.
My wife's been here.
Now, Mr. Huang has just arrived in Washington.
On his way from Taiwan, he stopped off in California to do some sight-seeing.
Listen.
Huáng Xiānsheng, nǐ zài Jiāzhōu zhùle duó jiǔ?
Wǒ zhùle yīge xīngqī.
Jiāzhōu hěn hǎo.
Qǐngwèn, nǐ zài Měiguó zhù duó jiǔ?
Wǒ zhù sānnián.
Nǐ cóngqián láiguo ma?
Wǒ cóngqián méi láiguo.
See if you understood what was said.
Huáng Xiānsheng, nǐ zài Jiāzhōu zhùle duó jiǔ?
Mr. Huang, how long did you stay in California?
Wǒ zhùle yīge xīngqī.
I stayed one week.
Jiāzhōu hěn hǎo.
California is very nice.
Qǐngwèn, nǐ zài Měiguó zhù duó jiǔ?
May I ask, how long are you staying in America.
Wǒ zhù sānnián.
I'm staying three years.
Nǐ cóngqián láiguo ma?
Have you ever been here before?
Wǒ cóngqián méi láiguo.
I have never been here before.
Hao, women xià kè ba.
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