INDICATING COMPLETION AND TALKING ABOUT THE PAST

33

Indicating completion and talking about the past

Mandarin has no grammatical structure that is entirely equivalent to past tense in English. Instead, it has structures that signal the completion of an event or that indicate that an event occurred or did not occur at some time in the past, or that a situation existed at some time in the past. The primary strategies for indicating completion and talking about the past are presented in this chapter.

33.1Completion: V - le

Mandarin uses the verb suffix le to mark an action as complete. When an action is marked as complete with respect to now (speech time), completion also indicates that the action happened in the past.

Only action verbs can be marked as complete. If a stative verb, adjectival verb, or modal verb is followed by le, the meaning is one of change rather than completion.

Í10, 11, 12, 13.1

Ordinarily, when - le marks completion it occurs right after the verb.

Q:!"#$%!"#$%

Nm gqn shéi kàn le diànymng?

With whom did you see the movie?

A:!"#$%&'!"#$%&'

Wn gqn wn nu péngyou kàn le diànymng.

I saw the movie with my girlfriend.

Notice that these sentences refer to situations that are both completed and past. If the verb takes an object and the object is only one syllable in length, le may occur after the verb + object. Some speakers of Mandarin prefer to put le after the object regardless of the length of the object noun phrase.

!"#$%&'()!"#$%&'()

Wn zuótipn wknshang bpdikn zhsng huí jiP le.

Last night I returned home at 8 p.m.

226

Talking about sequence in the past

33.2

The use of le to mark completed actions is not obligatory. However, it is commonly used when the verb takes an object that includes a number phrase. In these sentences, le occurs right after the verb.

!" #$%&'()*+!" #$%&'()*+

Tp nán péngyou gli tp mki le yR bLn ZhSngwén cídiKn.

Her boy friend bought a Chinese dictionary for her.

!"#$%& '()*+!"#$%& '()*+

Shàng gè zhsumò wnmen tiào le liKng gè zhSngtóu de wO.

We danced for two hours last weekend. (here: two hours of dance)

The adverb / ymjing ‘already’ often occurs before a completed action to indicate that an action is already concluded:

!"#$%!"#$%

Wn ymjing chr le wknfàn.

I already ate dinner.

or

!"#$%!"#$%

Wn ymjing chr wknfàn le.

I already ate dinner.

Q:!"#$%&'()!"#$%&'()

Nà jiàn shì, nm shénme shíhòu zuòwán?

When will you finish that matter?

A:!"#$!"#$

Wn ymjing zuòwán le.

I’ve already finished.

33.2Talking about sequence in the past

To indicate that two actions occur in sequence, follow the first action verb with le.

!"#$!"#$

Tp chr le fàn jiù znu.

He will eat and then leave. (After he eats, he will leave.)

As the translation of this sentence indicates, this sentence refers to a sequence that will take place in the future: le indicates that chr ‘to eat’ occurs before znu ‘to leave.’

To indicate that a sequence occurred in the past, follow the second verb or the object of the second verb with - le.

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INDICATING COMPLETION AND TALKING ABOUT THE PAST

33.4

!"# $!"# $

Tp chr le fàn jiù znu le.

After he ate, he left.

!"#$%&'()"*!"#$%&'()"*

Xuésheng zuòwán le gsngkè jiù jipo gli lkoshr le.

After the students finished their work they handed it to the teacher.

These sentences have two instances of le. The one that follows the first verb indicates sequence. The one that follows the second verb or its object indicates that the sequence is complete, that is, that it happened in the past.

33.3Indicating that an action did not occur in the past

To indicate that an action did not occur in the past, negate the verb with méi orméi ynu. Do not use bù as the marker of negation, and do not use le after the verb when talking about an action that did not occur.

!"#$

Wn hánjià méi huí jip.

I didn’t go home for winter break.

! "#$%&'! "#$%&'

Wn zuótipn yr tipn dsu méi kànjian tp.

I didn’t see him at all yesterday.

( ) !"( ) !"

Tp méi (ynu) mki nà bln sht.

He didn’t buy that book.

The adverb / hái may occur in sentences negated with ( ) méi (ynu). ( )/ ( ) hái méi (ynu) means not yet.

!"#$!"#$

Wn hái méi chr zkofàn.

I haven’t yet eaten breakfast.

!"#$%&'()#!"#$%&'()#

Tp cái shíspn suì. Dpngrán hái méi jiéhtn.

He’s only 13. Of course he hasn’t yet married.

Í13.3, 23.1.2

33.4Asking whether an action has occurred

To ask whether an action has occurred, use a yes–no question:

228

Indicating that an action occurred again in the past: yòu verb le						33.5
S- / /ma
Q:	!"# $%	or	Q:	!"#$%
	!"# $%			!"#$%
	Nm mki le fqijr piào le ma?			Nm mki fqijr piào le ma?
	Did you buy the airplane			Did you buy the airplane
	ticket?			ticket?
verb le (object) méi yNu
Q:	!"# $%&	or	Q:	!"#$%&
	!"# $%&			!"#$%&
	Nm mki le fqijr piào le			Nm mki fqijr piào le
	méi ynu?			méi ynu?
	Have you bought (the)			Have you bought (the)
	airplane ticket yet?			airplane ticket yet?
A:			A:
	Mki le.			Mki le.
	[I] bought [it].			[I] bought [it].

yNu méi yNu + [prepositional phrase +] verb phrase

Q:!"#$%!"#$\

Nm ynu méi ynu mki fqijr piào?

Have you bought the airplane ticket?

Mki le.

[I] bought [it].

For any form of yes–no question, a ‘yes’ answer includes le after the verb.

Mki le.

[I] bought [it].

A ‘no’ answer does not have le.

A:( )( )

Méi (ynu) mki

[I] haven’t.

Í24.1

33.5Indicating that an action occurred again in the past:

yòu verb le

To indicate that an action occurred again in the past, precede the [prepositional phrase +] verb phrase with the adverb yòu and follow the verb with le.

229

INDICATING COMPLETION AND TALKING ABOUT THE PAST

33.6

!"#$ %&'!"#!"#$ %&'!"#

Tp qiántipn lái le. Jrntipn zkoshang yòu lái le.

He came the day before yesterday. This morning he came again.

Notice that the adverb yòu ‘(to do) again in the past’ is closely related to the adverb zài ‘(to do) again in the future.’

!"#$%&'() *+,$(!"#$%&'() *+,$(

Wn zuótipn wknshang yòu chr jikozi le. Míngtipn bù yào zài chr.

I ate dumplings again last night. I don’t want to eat them again tomorrow.

Í32.2

NOTE yòu . . . yòu . . . means ‘both . . . and . . .’ and can be used to link stative verbs or adjectival verbs.

! "#

! "#

Tpmen yòu è yòu k[.

They are hungry and thirsty.

Í10.8, 36.9, 39.4

33.6Talking about past experience: verb suffix - / guo

To indicate that an action has been experienced at least once in the indefinite past, follow the verb with the verb suffix - / guo.

!"#$!"#$

Wn chrguo Zhsngguó fàn.

I’ve eaten Chinese food (before).

The verb suffix / guo is appropriate in the following circumstances:

•when talking about actions that the subject does not perform on a regular basis,

•when talking about actions that happened in the remote past,

•when talking about actions that are repeatable. Actions that are not repeatable cannot be suffixed with / guo.

Do not say

G !"#$!"#$

Tp dàxué bìyè guò.

intended: She has graduated from university before.

Í13.2

230

Comparing the verb suffixes / guo and le

33.7

The suffix / guo can be used with the verb suffix le to emphasize the fact that a specific action happened in the past. / guo always occurs before le.

!"#$%&'(!"#$%&'(

Jrntipn de bào wn ymjing kànguo le.

I’ve already read today’s paper.

!"#$%&!"#$%&

Chángchéng wn ymjing dqngguo le.

I have already climbed the Great Wall.

To indicate that an action has never been experienced before, precede the [prepositional phrase +] verb phrase with méi or méi ynu and follow the verb with/ guo as follows:

( ) méi (ynu) + verb - / guo

!"#$%!"#$%

Wn méi chrguo Zhsngguó fàn.

I have never eaten Chinese food before.

!"#$!"#$

Tp méi zuòguo fqijr.

He has never ridden on a plane before.

When talking about events that have never been experienced before, the adverb/ cónglái ‘in the past’ often occurs before the verb for additional emphasis:

!"#$%&'!"#$%&'

Wn cónglái méi chrguo Zhsngguó fàn.

I have never eaten Chinese food before.

NOTE / cónglái is only used in negative sentences.

Í23.3, 31.3

33.7Comparing the verb suffixes / guo and le

The verb suffixes / guo and le overlap in meaning but they are not identical. As illustrated in Section 33.6, they may sometimes be used together. However, in many contexts, only / guo or le is appropriate.

Here is a table that summarizes the meanings associated with / guo and le, and illustrates their differences.

231

INDICATING COMPLETION AND TALKING ABOUT THE PAST				33.8
	/ guo	le
The action is / guo is acceptable		le is acceptable
completed in	!"#		!"#
the past.	!"#		!"#
	Wn qùguo Zhsngguó.		Wn qù le Zhsngguó.
	I’ve been to China before.		I went to China.
The action has / guo is acceptable		le is acceptable, but simply
never been		indicates that the action did
performed		not happen
by the subject.	!"#$		!"#
	!"#$		!"#
	Wn méi qùguo Zhsngguó.		Wn méi qù Zhsngguó.
	I have never been to China before.		I didn’t go to China.
The action	This condition is necessary	le can be used for repeatable
refers to	for / guo	or non-repeatable events
a repeatable	!"#$%		!"#$%
event.	!"#$%		!"#$%
	Wn kànguo nàge diànymng.		Wn kànle nàge diànymng.
	I have seen that movie before.		I saw that movie before.
	If the action is not repeatable,
	/ guo is not acceptable
	G !"#$		!"#$
	!"#$		!"#$
	Tp dàxué bìyèguo.		Tp dàxué bìyè le.
	She graduated from university.		She graduated from university.
The action is	This condition is necessary	le can be used with customary
not customary.	for / guo	or unusual actions
It is unusual	!"#		!"#
for the subject	!"#
to do it.	Wn chrguo shé ròu.		Wn chrle shé ròu.
	I have had the experience of		I ate snake. (There is no
	eating snake before.		implication about how
			common this action is for me.)

33.8Adverbs that indicate past time

Adverbs that indicate past time may be used with action verbs, stative verbs, or adjectival verbs. When the verb is a stative verb or adjectival verb, an adverb may be the only marker of past time. Here are the most common adverbs that indicate past time.

yMqián ‘before, previously, in the past’

!"#$%&'((action verb)

!"#$%&'(

Wn ymqián zài wàiguó zhù le jmnián.

I previously lived abroad for a few years.

232

. . . . . .Focusing on a detail of a past event with shì de

33.9

!"#$%&'()(stative verb)

Xikoyrng ymqián shì Dàmíng de nu péngyou.

Xiaoying used to be Daming’s girlfriend.

!"#$%(stative verb)

!"#$%

Wn ymqián hln xMhuan tp.

I used to like him a lot.

!"#$%(adjectival verb)

Shíyóu ymqián hln piányi.

In the past, gasoline was cheap.

/ guòqù ‘in the past’

!"#$%&(stative verb)

!"#$%&

Tp guòqù shì Yrngwén lkoshr.

He used to be an English teacher.

/ cóngqián ‘previously’

!"#$%&'()(stative verb)

!"#$%&'()

Zhsngguó cóngqián yNu hln dus rén bù shí zì.

In the past, China had a lot of people who were illiterate.

These adverbs may also be used when talking about situations that customarily occurred in the past.

!!"#$%&'!!"#$%&'

Wn cóngqián tipntipn qù gsngyuán sànbù.

I used to take a walk in the park every day.

!"#$%&'() *+!"#$%&'() *+

Wn guòqù mli nián dsu dài háizi dào hkibipn qù wán.

In the past, every year I used to take the children to the ocean to play.

33.9Focusing on a detail of a past event with

. . . shì . . . de

To focus on a specific detail of an event such as the time or place of the event, use

. . . shì . . . de.

shì occurs right before the phrase that is being focused.

de occurs right after the verb or at the end of the sentence.

. . . shì . . . de is used to focus on:

233

INDICATING COMPLETION AND TALKING ABOUT THE PAST

33.9

• the time when an event occurred:

!"#$%&'(!"#$%&'(

Tp shì yRnián yMqián qù Zhsngguó de.

He went to China a year ago.

!"#$%&' (!"#$%&' (

Nm de xrn chq shì shénme shíhòu mki de?

When did you buy your new car?

• the one who performed the activity:

!"#$%!"#$%

Zhè bln sht shì shéi xil de?

Who wrote this book?

• location:

!"#$%& '!"#$%& '

Nm de dàyr shì zài nKr mki de?

Where did you buy your coat?

!"#$%&'(!"#$%&'(

Zhè zhpng cí dié shì zài nKr mki de?

Where did you buy this CD?

• a prepositional phrase:

!"#$%!"#$%

Tp shì gQn shéi jiéhtn de?

Who (with whom) did he marry?

If the verb has an object and the object is not a pronoun, de can come either after the verb or at the end of the sentence.

!"#$%&' ()!"#$%&' ()

Zuótipn wknshàng shì shéi gli nm zuò de wknfàn?

Who cooked dinner for you last night?

or

!"#$%& '()!"#$%& '()

Zuótipn wknshàng shì shéi gli nm zuò wknfàn de?

Who cooked dinner for you last night?

If the object of the verb is a pronoun, de can only occur after the pronoun, at the end of the sentence.

234

Focusing on a detail of a past event with . . . shì . . . de			33.9
Say this	Not this
!"#$%&'	G !"#$%&'
!"#$%&'	!"#$%&'
Nm shì zài nKr rènshi tp de?	Nm shì zài nkr rènshi de tp?
Where did you meet him?

shì may be omitted in affirmative sentences.

!( ) !"#!( ) !"#

Zhè zhpng cí dié (shì) zài sht diàn mki de.

This CD was bought at the bookstore.
shì may not be omitted in negated sentences.
Say this	Not this
!"#$%&'()	G !"#$%&'(
!"#$%&'()	!"#$%&'(
Zhè zhpng cídié bù shì zài	Zhè zhpng cídié bù zài
shtdiàn mki de.	shtdiàn mki de.
This CD was not bought at the bookstore.
Í 11.4, 26.4, 53.2.4

235