A Simple but Confusing Question

[nanyangguy]

The translation for the sentence "I have learnt Chinese for three years" can be written as "我学汉语学了三年。" However, the question in my mind is can I say "我学了汉语三年。" or "我学了汉语三年了。" ? Are the two sentences correct? Please help me solve this problem?

[semantic nuance]

They're all right. But the meaning of 我學了漢語三年 is slightly different. The question of this sentence is "你學漢語學了多久?", if you answer 我學了漢語三年, its implication is that you studied Chinese for 3 years, but you don't study it now. Namely, you quit learning it. If you answer 我學了漢語三年了, it means you have studied it for 3 years and you're still studying it. It's like in English. How long have you learned Chinese? I learned it for 3 years, meaning you don't study it now. How long have you learned Chinese? I've learned it for 3 years, indicating that you learned it 3 years ago, and you're still learning it. Hope it helps!

[henrik]

Excuse my ignorance, I'm also a learner with only basic knowledge, so I have a question. By what rule is the verb reduplicated?

[笨笨德]

You can also omit the first 了

我學漢語三年了and maintain the same meaning of, Up until now I have studied Chinese for 3 years.

or fiddle with the word order by placing the verb's object at the end

我學了三年的漢語了

加油

[笨笨德]

henrik,

in this case you could just say

我學漢語，學了三年

i hope i understood your question

[henrik]

Yes, I was puzzled not by double 了, but by the double 学 (學). So if I understand it correctly by your sentence with a comma, you can provide the verb + object first and then repeat the verb to attach the aspect marker? So 我學漢語學了三年 and 我學了漢語三年 have the same meaning but maybe a slightly different stress?

[semantic nuance]

我學漢語，學了三年

There're two possibilties. One is 我已經學了三年, (現在還在學), I have learned it for 3 years, (and am still learning it.) Two is 我學了三年, (但現在不學了). I learned it for 3 years, but I don't learn it anymore.

[Quest]

They're all right. But the meaning of 我學了漢語三年 is slightly different. The question of this sentence is "你學漢語學了多久?", if you answer 我學了漢語三年, its implication is that you studied Chinese for 3 years, but you don't study it now.

I dont think the distinction is that clear cut, you can say 我（已经）学了三年（的）汉语（了）, and still be learning it presently. （我學了漢語三年 -- putting 三年 after 汉语 is slightly awkward.)

[semantic nuance]

I dont think the distinction is that clear cut, you can say 我（已经）学了三年（的）汉语（了）, and still be learning it presently.

I agree with you. As I said, there are two possibilites as I formerly posted.

[adrianlondon]

I was taught, admittedly in London by a Taiwanese guy ...

我学了三年的中文 ：I studied Chinese for 3 years

我学了三年的中文了：I have studied Chinese for 3 years so far

The final "le" in the latter example showing a continuous action. Odd, as I always thought "le" meant "change of state", but hey.

[红酒对清秋]

The translation for the sentence "I have learnt Chinese for three years" can be written as "我学汉语学了三年。" However, the question in my mind is can I say "我学了汉语三年。" or "我学了汉语三年了。" ? Are the two sentences correct? Please help me solve this problem?

You can say "我学了三年汉语了" or "我学汉语学了三年了"or "我已经学了三年汉语了"

This sentence's means that you have learnt Chinese for three years and you're still learning it.

[ruoxi]

the expression may be more natural if we it like this：

我学了三年汉语；

or：

我汉语学了三年了

or

我学汉语已经三年了

[Ferno]

So the rule is, an extra "le" at the end of the sentance means you're still doing the action?

I haven't heard of this :o

[semantic nuance]

So the rule is, an extra "le" at the end of the sentance means you're still doing the action?

I haven't heard of this :o]

了 does not necessarily mean a continuial action. It really depends on which context you use it. It can mean something that has been done, or someone has done something.Therefore, 了 can mean an end of an action, or a continual action. It's like the perfect tense in English. Examples:

1. I have learned English for 5 years. 我英文(已經)學5年了.

I have been learning English for 5 years. 我英文(已經)學5年了

2. He has gone to the zoo.他已經去了動物園.

3. She has fallen asleep. 她(已經)睡著了.

4. A: 聽到了沒? Did you hear me?

B: 聽到了! Yes, I did.

Hope it helps!

[Altair]

（我學了漢語三年 -- putting 三年 after 汉语 is slightly awkward.)

I am surprised that this statement is not stronger. Most of my grammar books go further and say that this structure is basically ungrammatical.

Excuse my ignorance, I'm also a learner with only basic knowledge, so I have a question. By what rule is the verb reduplicated?

My understanding is that the slot after the main verb in most Chinese sentences is a privileged position that can have only one substantive element in it. When you need to put more than one element in this position, you can either reorder the words in the sentence or repeat the verb with the different elements.

我學了三年的漢語 works because it combines the two elements into one, i.e., "three years' English." 我學了三年漢語 also works because the time element acts like a number and a measure word. 我英语學了三年 also works because the elements are in a different order. 我学英语学了三年 repeats the verb and avoids the issue.

Another structure where repetion of the verb is sometimes required is with 得, e.g., 他说英语说得很快.

So the rule is, an extra "le" at the end of the sentance means you're still doing the action?

I haven't heard of this :o

了 never means continuing action, but it can imply it. 了 generally indicates the endpoint of something. In the sentence 我學了三年的漢語了, the first 了 indicates that a definite amount of studying took place. The second 了 indicates that this amount was reached at a certain point in a process not stated within the sentence. The nuance it lends is something like "as of" a certain point in time. Since no time is stated here, it is assumed to be the present.