More questions about 了

[Altair]

If someone were the first person to wake up in a family, went to a window, and said: 天下雨了 (Tiān xià yǔ le)! What could this mean? It's raining? It rained? If one said: 早上下雨了 (zǎoshang xià yǔ le), would the meaning change? Could it still mean either "It rained this morning" or "It's raining this morning"? If I heard these words while lying in bed and remember that I left the windows open in my car, should I plan to grab an umbrella and rush outside to close the windows to prevent further rain damage, or can I ignore the umbrella and take my time, expecting to view rain damage that has already occurred and will not get worse?

Would it ever be usual to say 下了雨了 (xià le yǔ le) in any of the above situations?

Similarly, if a bunch of thieves are in a room and another thief runs into the room and yells: "警察来啦 (Jǐngchá lái la)!," does this imply: "The cops are on their way (so we should try to escape.") or "The cops are here (and so it is too late to escape.")?

[Yuchi]

If someone were the first person to wake up in a family, went to a window, and said: 天下雨了 (Tiān xià yǔ le)! What could this mean? It's raining? It rained? If one said: 早上下雨了 (zǎoshang xià yǔ le), would the meaning change? Could it still mean either "It rained this morning" or "It's raining this morning"? If I heard these words while lying in bed and remember that I left the windows open in my car, should I plan to grab an umbrella and rush outside to close the windows to prevent further rain damage, or can I ignore the umbrella and take my time, expecting to view rain damage that has already occurred and will not get worse?

天下雨了 would mean it's currently raining, or to be even more clear, 天正在下雨.

天下过雨了 mean it has already rained.

早上下雨了 doesn't really make sense as it has already passed so it should be 早上下过雨了.

Would it ever be usual to say 下了雨了 (xià le yǔ le) in any of the above situations?

No, it would sound too awkward. Be sure not to overuse 了 and make sure you use 过 appropriately.

So it would be 下过雨了 to state past tense or 下雨了 to express "it's raining!".

Similarly, if a bunch of thieves are in a room and another thief runs into the room and yells: "警察来啦 (Jǐngchá lái la)!," does this imply: "The cops are on their way (so we should try to escape.") or "The cops are here (and so it is too late to escape.")?

This one can be tricky, as it can mean both, so to specify make it 警察快来啦 to imply that the cops are almost here or "on their way".

[semantic nuance]

If someone were the first person to wake up in a family, went to a window, and said: 天下雨了 (Tiān xià yǔ le)! What could this mean? It's raining? It rained?

In spoken chinese, we use (在) 下雨了.現在在下雨了. 天下雨了sounds a bit literary.

If one said: 早上下雨了 (zǎoshang xià yǔ le), would the meaning change? Could it still mean either "It rained this morning" or "It's raining this morning"?

You might use 早上下雨了 in the following context:

It was raining at 7. When you said "早上下雨了" , the time you said that was after 7. In other words. 早上下雨了 indicates that it (raining) happened before you said it. Also, you can use 早上下過雨了.However, 早上下過雨了 can mean a bit differently. It can mean that it rained this morning, and it stopped raining.

If I heard these words while lying in bed and remember that I left the windows open in my car, should I plan to grab an umbrella and rush outside to close the windows to prevent further rain damage, or can I ignore the umbrella and take my time, expecting to view rain damage that has already occurred and will not get worse?

Well, it depends! If it were 下大雨了(喔) !!=( It's raining cats and dogs!!) and you heard it, you'd better grab your umbrella and rush outside to close the windows. If it were only下毛毛雨 (mao2 mao2 yu3=drizzle), then you can decide if you want to get out of the bed or not. Or, you can decide to go or not according to your mood, and not the weather!!

I'll quote the usage of 了 from page 81-82 of <簡明漢語語法>, hope it will help you understand "了 "more.

1. "了"

(1)表示情況發生了變化. 有成句和表達語氣的作用 Express change in situation or condition. It has the function of completing a sentence or showing a tone.

下雨了 (發生了 happened)

快上課了 (將要發生 will happen)

信我看過了(完成 completed)

大家不說了(停止 pause)

祖父病了 (狀態變化 change of state)

他不想去了 (意願變化 change of will)

休息了 (開始 start)

我走了 (將要發生 will happen)

我已經買了機票了 (即表完成又表變化 completetion and change)

秋天了 ( 名詞+了 noun + 了)

這雙鞋小了 (形容詞+了 adjective +了)

(2) 表示肯定 Shows certainty.

他走了 我會開汽車了

Similarly, if a bunch of thieves are in a room and another thief runs into the room and yells: "警察来啦 (Jǐngchá lái la)!," does this imply: "The cops are on their way (so we should try to escape.") or "The cops are here (and so it is too late to escape.")?

I agree with Yuchi.

This one can be tricky, as it can mean both, so to specify make it 警察快来啦 to imply that警察来啦 the cops are almost here or "on their way".

It comes to me interesting variations with a mark, be it a comm, or an exclamation mark. See the following:

警察(先生), 來啦! 來啦! 抽根菸...別這樣子嘛! 這次放我ㄧ馬嘛!(Police officer! C'mon! Have a cigarette!. Don't be that way please. Let me be off the hook this time.) when you are stopped because you break some traffic rules, for example, and you're trying to bargain with a policeman by playing nice.

警察(先生)!! 快来啦 !! 這裡有人受傷了..(Police officer! Come quickly! Somebody is injured here.)

Hope it helps!!

[liuzhou]

If you are lying in bed and remember that you have left the windows open on your car, chances are your car has been stolen! So I wouldn't worry about the rain so much!

[Altair]

Thanks for the answers. I have to ponder this more.

I'll quote the usage of 了 from page 81-82 of <簡明漢語語法>, hope it will help you understand "了 "more.

I understand this description, but I think there must be more to it for someone who does not speak fluent Chinese. To me, I would think that I would say 今天下雨了 and 今天很冷 on the same type of day and would express about the same amount of change.

Would a weather forecaster also say 今天下雨了? Would it be more objective to drop the 了?

How would a family member or a weather forecaster say: "It is raining again today"? I ask this because the suggestion is that there is no change.

[Quest]

Would a weather forecaster also say 今天下雨了? Would it be more objective to drop the 了?

The forecaster would say 今天有【type】雨。

How would a family member or a weather forecaster say: "It is raining again today"? I ask this because the suggestion is that there is no change.

The family member would say: 又下雨，天天都下雨，真(@*^!

The weather forecaster would say: 今天再度有雨。but he/she is likely to leave out the "again" part.

If someone were the first person to wake up in a family, went to a window, and said: 天下雨了 (Tiān xià yǔ le)! What could this mean? It's raining? It rained?

Usually just "下雨了", it means it's raining now, or it just started to rain now. 了 here is the ending particle 了, not the past tense 了。

If one said: 早上下雨了 (zǎoshang xià yǔ le), would the meaning change? Could it still mean either "It rained this morning" or "It's raining this morning"?

No one would say that, specifying 早上 implies past tense, one can say 早上下了雨 or 早上下过雨。

If I heard these words while lying in bed and remember that I left the windows open in my car, should I plan to grab an umbrella and rush outside to close the windows to prevent further rain damage, or can I ignore the umbrella and take my time, expecting to view rain damage that has already occurred and will not get worse?

If you heard 早上下了雨 or 早上下过雨, then you don't need your umbrella now.

Would it ever be usual to say 下了雨了 (xià le yǔ le) in any of the above situations?

Not in the above situations. But, I think you can say 昨天已经下了一场大雨了，今天难道还要再下不成？

Similarly, if a bunch of thieves are in a room and another thief runs into the room and yells: "警察来啦 (Jǐngchá lái la)!," does this imply: "The cops are on their way (so we should try to escape.") or "The cops are here (and so it is too late to escape.")?

The cops are coming. can be either...