New Members LiamMan Posted July 12, 2015 at 06:11 PM New Members Report Posted July 12, 2015 at 06:11 PM Hi, I am confused over when to use the character 'le' in sentences. I now it represents a change in situation but I have seen examples using it which don't seem to follow this. For example: 'I went to England in March'. Is translated to: 'wo(3) san(1)yue(4) qu(4) le Ying(1)guo(2)' But I don't see where the 'le' come in can anyone help? Quote
edelweis Posted July 13, 2015 at 08:23 AM Report Posted July 13, 2015 at 08:23 AM hi, please be aware that "le" has several usages. Generally when "le" is at the end of a sentence, it expresses a change of situation. But when "le" is in the middle of a sentence, immediately following the verb, it generally expresses something that happened in the past (so it finished in the past) . I think that's the case in your example. There are other nuances too. "le" is probably the most complex particle in the Chinese language. Quote
L-F-J Posted July 13, 2015 at 01:26 PM Report Posted July 13, 2015 at 01:26 PM It simply indicates past tense here. Without it, it would say "I'm going" to England in March. With it, it changes to "I went" to England in March. 1 Quote
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