About 了 and time

[Demian]

Is this sentence correct: 昨天下雨了，可是今天沒下雨。(It rained yesterday but it hasn't rained today.)

I am confused:

(1) If the use of 了 is correct alongside 昨天, and

(2) If I can use 了 with 今天.

[Demonic_Duck]

下雨了 = it rained.

没下雨 = it didn't rain.

了 isn't used in the negative. Whether it's 昨天 or 今天 doesn't make any difference, as long as it's the past we're talking about.

[Demian]

Thank you! Am I correct to suppose this is a grammatically correct sentence: 昨天下雨了，可是今天沒下雨。

[Demonic_Duck]

Looks fine to me.

[Demian]

Thank you! (謝謝！)

[Madelynne]

I see this character quite a lot and am confused about what it is used for.

[Ruben von Zwack]

edit: renzhe put elegantly in one sentence what took me 12 lines

[renzhe]

It's a grammatical particle which can mean a number of things: completion of an action, change of state, immediacy, intensification...

More information:

http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Uses_of_%22le%22

http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Modal_particle_%22le%22

http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Aspectual_particle_%22le%22

http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_completion_with_%22le%22

[renzhe]

I don't know if this is correct, strictly speaking, but I tell myself it is somewhat comparable to the English verb endings "-ed", "-en" "-t", etc.

This is a very appealing crutch, but it will only end up confusing you in the long run, IMHO.

Chinese expresses things primarily through aspect particles, and tenses are implicit. Most European languages use primarily tenses, and aspect is usually implicit. That's why many things don't have a one-to-one mapping and you need to get a "feel" for how Chinese sentences are constructed.

EDIT: the original post was edited, but I'll leave this response anyway, because it needs to be repeated in every "了" thread

[Ruben von Zwack]

Oops, sorry! I edited it because I felt it was too wobbly for being a legitimate explanation. I like your response. 了 is mystifying in its simplicity

[roddy]

Going to merge this with an existing topic. You either need a very good grammar book, or to learn to embrace the confusion.

It's also appreciated if new topics are a little more substantial - try and figure it out yourself, let us know how far you got and what you're still stuck on, etc.

[Angelina]

OP, what study materials have you been using?

[lvn]

Why not:

 

昨下了雨，可是今天没下雨

 

or 今天下过雨，可是今天没下雨

 

昨天下了雨，今天还是很热。

It rained yesterday but it is still hot today.