How to use 了
Verb + 了 + Duration
A duration tells how long an activity lasts, rather than when it happens. One common Mandarin arrangement puts 了 after the verb and the duration after 了. An object may then follow, depending on the verb phrase. This word order differs from time expressions naming a day or date, which commonly precede the action.
The construction presents an amount of activity as realized, but context is important when deciding whether the activity has definitely stopped. A bounded past setting can make that clear; an additional final 了 often presents the elapsed duration as continuing up to now. Do not translate the first 了 as an automatic statement that the entire activity can no longer continue.
Examples with pinyin and English
他学了一年中文。
He studied Chinese for a year.
我看了一个晚上书。
I read books all evening.
他做了八年经理。
He worked as a manager for eight years.
我们坐了十五个小时的飞机。
We took a fifteen hour flight.
What to remember
- Place elapsed duration after the verb's 了.
- Keep durations separate from when expressions.
- Context establishes whether the activity has stopped.
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Source and editorial notes
Explanation rewritten for Laowai. Examples are adapted from the Laowai English grammar curriculum, with editorial corrections where needed. The original curriculum credits AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki as used with permission. Read the retained source credits.
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