我們到了 - past tense "了" or change of situation "了"?

[Christa]

What do you think of this sentence / phrase 我們到了 / wǒmen dào le?

 

Would you say that the 了 in it is expressing 1. the past tense (we arrived) 2. a change of situation (we have now arrived) or 3. could be either - it depends on context.

 

If it's the latter, what if we put it in the context of a taxi journey. You arrive and the taxi driver says "小姐,我們到了". Would you take the 了 as acting to make the sentence past tense or a change of situation?

 

Would love to know your thoughts,

 

 

Christina

[Lu]

Flippant answer: it doesn't make the sentence past tense, because the sentence is in Chinese, which doesn't have a past tense.

Less flippant: I think 到了 can always be explained as a 'change of situation': Previously we had not arrived, but now we are arriving. You can often translate it as past tense, but that's just because that's the way we say it in English/Dutch/other languages, not because it is inherently past tense. Indeed, it's often said just before the train/taxi/plane actually comes to a halt, so in a way it should be future tense.

 

Anecdote, I forgot who told me this story or whom it happened to:

A man, beginner of Chinese, is in China and wants to take a bus. He comes to a bus stop.

When does the bus come? he asks someone waiting there.

啊，车到了, exclaims the lady.

了, that means it's past tense, the man thinks, recalling his textbook. That's too bad, the bus has come and I missed it. So he walks off.

[Christa]

Yeah, I know:

 

"Chinese doesn't have past tense, it has aspect," explains the Chinese teacher.

 

"Really?" a newcomer to the language says.

 

"Yes," comes the reply. "Here we are using the perfective aspectual particle."

 

"What's that do?" the newcomer asks.

 

"Erm, lets you use the past tense," comes the reply.

 

You are right though, of course.

 

Your explanation is really good though, Lu. I also thought this but wanted to check.

 

Yes 到了 would probably always suggest a change of situation. I suppose the nature of arriving guarantees that.

 

Thanks again for your help!

[Jim]

As I understand it, the 了 simply indicates that the action of the verb is completed, any location in time of that completion will come from a wider context. 

[陳德聰]

I think I have read somewhere that there are cases where it is both.

[Christa]

1 hour ago, 陳德聰 said:

I think I have read somewhere that there are cases where it is both.

 

Indeed. Here's an interesting example, courtesy of chineseboost.com:

 

我到了城里卖掉我偷的车。

Wǒ dào le chéng lǐ mài diào wǒ tōu de chē.

I've come to the city to sell the cars I stole.