Is it possible to use two 了's one after another?

[eladalon]

Can I for instance write: "我的体重要轻了了"? My body weight will descend".

(one 了 is for the 轻 [adj.-light, when adding 了 it becomes some sort of verb, "to become more light"], and the other one is for the 要 [the structure 要...了 is for future])

Thank you!

[imron]

The only time I have seen two 了's next to one another is when one of them is liao and one of them is le, e.g. 改不了了

[esoyohoo]

you can not use 2 了 here.

In the example of @imron , the 2 了 have different pronunciation：改不了了 gai3 bu4 liao3 le.

了

liǎo

明白，知道：明了。一目了然。

完结，结束：完了。了结。

在动词后，与“不”、“得”连用，表示可能或不可能：看不了。办得了。

与“得”、“不得”前后连用，表示异乎寻常或情况严重：那还了得！

了

le

放在动词或形容词后，表示动作或变化已经完成：写完了。

助词，用在句子末尾或句中停顿的地方，表示变化，表示出现新的情况：刮风了。

[eladalon]

@esoyohoo

Then how should I write this sentence?

[esoyohoo]

我的体重要轻了

了用在句子末尾表示变化。

[andysun731]

It should be "我的体重要轻了". At this time, “轻” maybe short for “减轻” or “变轻”, which is already some sort of verb without “了”.

[Jose]

(...) 轻 [adj.-light, when adding 了 it becomes some sort of verb, "to become more light"]

Rather than interpreting the 了 as turning the adjective into a verb, I think it makes more sense to think of all Chinese adjectives as behaving grammatically like verbs. In fact, some English-language grammars avoid the term 'adjective' and call them 'state verbs'. If we think of Chinese adjectives as verbs, then the use of 了 meaning 'to become' is simply the change-of-state 了 that we may find with any ordinary verb.

For example, with a verb like 知道 we can say:

我知道 = I know

我知道了 = Now I know (i. e. I know something now that I didn't know before)

Similarly, if we think of the adjective 高兴 as a verb 'to be happy', we have:

他很高兴 = he is (very) happy.

他高兴了 = Now he is happy (i. e. he's happy now and he wasn't before; he's become happy)

When you use 要...了, I think the future implication of that expression is enough to convey the sense of a change of state (as when you say 'he will be happy' in English), so you don't need any additional 了. So your example, as esoyohoo and andysun731 have said, would simply be 我的体重要轻了. You can also say 我的体重要轻一点了 if you're trying to convey the idea of getting lighter.

[eladalon]

@Jose

@andysun731

@esoyohoo

Thank you so much! This is my first thread as of now and I am very impressed by the will to help of people around here!

oh and Jose, by the way, my native language is Hebrew, so the case is a bit different.. I am not sure if we have stative verbs as they are in English.. but I understood your extraordinary explanation! Its much clearer now! Thank you once again!

[danny1997]

This post makes me think of another saying with two 了 : 不了了之 bù liǎo liǎo zhī : settle a matter by leaving it unsettled.