In a sentence
我们昨天给老师发了邮件。
Wǒmen zuótiān gěi lǎoshī fā le yóujiàn.
We sent the teacher an email yesterday.
昨天 locates the event in time; 了 describes how the event is presented.
她还没写完邮件。
Tā hái méi xiěwán yóujiàn.
She has not finished writing the email yet.
还没 negates the completed result; no final 了 is needed.
Grammar & reading
View an action as a completed event with 了
Use verb-following 了 to present an action as a bounded event. It does not turn every sentence into the past tense.
Show that something is finished with 完
Distinguish doing an activity from reaching the end of it.
Words from the same lessons
About these meanings and examples
Laowai’s original website lessons and readings supply the short English meanings, sentence examples and usage notes. Each example links to its full context. For broader definitions, traditional characters and pronunciation audio, use the full dictionary.
About Laowai and its learning resources · Dictionary sources and licences · All vocabulary