了: Completion and Change of State
了 (le) has two main uses at HSK1:
Use 1 — Verb + 了 (completion marker)
Placed directly after the verb to show the action is completed.
- 我吃了饭。= I ate a meal. (action done)
- 他看了书。= He read a book. (action done)
Use 2 — Sentence-final 了 (new situation)
Placed at the end of the sentence to signal a change of state or new development.
- 他来了。= He's arrived. (he wasn't here before)
- 我会了。= I can do it now. (I couldn't before)
- 下雨了。= It's started raining.
Negation — always use 没有, remove 了:
- Correct: 我没有吃饭。
- Wrong: 我没有吃了饭。
When you negate with 没有, drop 了 entirely.
Worked examples
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 我吃了早饭。 | Wǒ chī le zǎo fàn. | I ate breakfast. (action completed) | 了 comes right after the verb 吃. This is Use 1: completion marker. |
| 下雨了，我们回家吧。 | Xià yǔ le, wǒ men huí jiā ba. | It started raining — let's go home. | Sentence-final 了 signals a new situation (it wasn't raining before). This is Use 2. |
| 她没有来。 | Tā méi yǒu lái. | She didn't come. | Negation uses 没有. No 了 — drop it when negating with 没有. |
What this opens up
These patterns list 了 among their own prerequisites, so they become readable once this one holds.
The same pattern at other levels
- 了 — HSK 4
了 is one topic of 829. GraphChinese teaches them in prerequisite order, so this pattern reaches you on the day everything it rests on is proven. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
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