Usage of 已经?

[Skyelar]

According to the dictionaries I've looked at, 已经 means "already". However, some of the example sentences given do not have "already" in their English translations:

• 我已经决定了。 "I've decided."
• 他已经去上班了。 "He's gone off to work."
• 我已经受够他了。 "I've had enough of him."

And in the first episode of the television show 秦时明月 where I came across the word:

• 持续了一千年的时代已经结束。 "An era that lasted a thousand years has ended."

What is the purpose of 已经 in these sentences?

[pretendingchinese]

"已经" is used to describe somebody has done something  by a particular time or sth has been done . it doesn't correspond to "already" , however, usually "already" is put in these kinds of sentences. so whatever you say ,if it means " people have done  something or already did sth or something was over or something has been done" , we can use" 已经“。 the game was over(游戏已经结束），I already decided (我已经决定了），I have (already) decided (我已经决定了）, this work has been done ( 这项工作已经完成了）

[tooironic]

It means "have" and is similar to the function of perfect tense in English. Since Chinese does not have tense, adverbs like these are a common way of making the meaning of a sentence clearer.

[Skyelar]

Doesn't 了 serve that function, though? What's the difference between 我决定了 and 我已经决定了?

[tooironic]

了 only tells you the verb has been completed.

 

我决定了 = I decided. 我已经决定了 = I have (already) decided.

[Skyelar]

I'm still not quite sure I understand. Maybe I'm asking this question too soon in my studies? But would I be correct in saying that 我决定了 can't mean "I decided" because that's the simple past tense and Mandarin doesn't have tense? Pretendingchinese says that 已经 means "people have done something or already did sth or something was over or something has been done", and tooironic says that it is equivalent to the English auxiliary verb "have". It would seem to me that both of those are equivalent to saying that the action has been completed, i.e. the perfect aspect, which is what I have been informed that 了 indicates (in this case).

[skylee]

You asked about the difference between 我決定了 and 我已經決定了. I would tend to say that there is no difference. If there is a difference, it is similar to that between I have decided and I have already decided. Perhaps there is more stress in the latter. But what do I know. I am a very careless person. Usually someone else here can point out plenty of difference between things which I think are the same.