Tag: 了
These conversation post have all been tagged with "了"
I'm a firm believer in methodology, at least as pertains to learning (which is why I love CPod, as it lets me design my own method instead of forcing one upon me). When something is difficult to learn, you can either sort of just let it be and you'll pick it up eventually (a method that is easy and works, but takes a long time) or you can roll up your sleeves and tackle it head-on (a method that's hard work, but will get you quicker results).
I've already discussed some of my methods in a couple of discussions here, most recently how I'm to handling measure words, which are a very difficult thing to learn and thus one I need to tackle head-on (since I don't have time for the slow, passive method). But there's another legendary feature in Chinese that's elusive and hard to master: that blasted particle "了". I need to develop a method to deal with it.
So here's what I'm thinking: I love spaced repetition. I'm using StudyArcade on my iPhone and it's brilliant. So I'm gonna get a bunch of sentences, in pairs. The paris will be similar, the only difference in the Chinese will be one or two "了" particles. Memorizing them will, I hope, get me some scaffolding on which to build an understanding of what the particle really does to a sentence.
But here's my problem: I don't master the particle yet. Which makes it difficult for me to construct these sentence pairs. So does anyone know of a way for me to get them? Is there a resource I can use? Or could maybe you, dear, beloved poddies and teachers, supply me with a few? I mean, I can make sentences where the "了" just changes the meaning from present to past tense, but it seems to be able to do so much more than this.
Also, do you think this is a descent method? Do you have any methods of your own for mastering "了"?
(I fully expect this discussion to die with hardly any answers, but hey, it's worth a shot.)
I'm a firm believer in methodology, at least as pertains to learning (which is why I love CPod, as it lets me design my own method instead of forcing one upon me). When something is difficult to learn, you can either sort of just let it be and you'll pick it up eventually (a method that is easy and works, but takes a long time) or you can roll up your sleeves and tackle it head-on (a method that's hard work, but will get you quicker results).
I've already discussed some of my methods in a couple of discussions here, most recently how I'm to handling measure words, which are a very difficult thing to learn and thus one I need to tackle head-on (since I don't have time for the slow, passive method). But there's another legendary feature in Chinese that's elusive and hard to master: that blasted particle "了". I need to develop a method to deal with it.
So here's what I'm thinking: I love spaced repetition. I'm using StudyArcade on my iPhone and it's brilliant. So I'm gonna get a bunch of sentences, in pairs. The paris will be similar, the only difference in the Chinese will be one or two "了" particles. Memorizing them will, I hope, get me some scaffolding on which to build an understanding of what the particle really does to a sentence.
But here's my problem: I don't master the particle yet. Which makes it difficult for me to construct these sentence pairs. So does anyone know of a way for me to get them? Is there a resource I can use? Or could maybe you, dear, beloved poddies and teachers, supply me with a few? I mean, I can make sentences where the "了" just changes the meaning from present to past tense, but it seems to be able to do so much more than this.
Also, do you think this is a descent method? Do you have any methods of your own for mastering "了"?
(I fully expect this discussion to die with hardly any answers, but hey, it's worth a shot.)
Tags: 了, le, methods, methodology,
Posted by simonpettersson 3 days ago .
Comments 
This is from the "Is China Scary?" UI lesson:
"怕中国公司收购美国公司、怕中国制造抢了美国人的饭碗"
"Pà zhōngguó gōngsī shōugòu měiguó gōngsī, pà zhōngguózhìzào qiǎng le měiguórén de fànwǎn."
"They’re afraid that Chinese companies will buy American companies. They’re afraid that “Made in China” will steal Americans’ livelihood."
Now who can tell me why there's a 了 in the second phrase, but none in the first? What's the difference?
A Chinese student said to me the other day "almost new". I got to thinking, how would I say that in Chinese? I think I would say, 崭新差不多. However, can I say 几乎新的?
I sometimes want to express something similar to this: "I aleady have five of them."
Which is right:
- 我已经有五个了。
- 我已经有了五个。
- 我已经有了五个了。
This really is another 了 question. I know that 已经 and 了 go hand-in-hand, but because I read before that 了 generally does not go with 有 to express completed action as 有 is a state and not an action, I am not sure what to do with the 了.
Yeah, it's true. I still don't get when to use 了. I have seen examples and explanations galore, but it seems everytime I write something and someone corrects my mistakes, there is a problem with 了. I just wrote the following comment in another post. I used 了 several times. If some of you dare to confront the dreaded 了, please take a look at the 了s and tell me if A) the are correct, B) not correct or C) optional. I would also be curious to know if I should have added any 了s somewhere else. Explanations would be a bonus. Thanks.
有一天我在一所英文培训学校参加了新雇员培训，那时还有两个别人参加了。到中午的时候，我们的教员说了那里周围有好多饭店。我说了“不好意思，我吃素，这里 周围有合适素食者的饭店？”然后另外一个“新雇员”同事说了“其实，我也吃素”，然后最后的新雇员同事说了“你们不会相信我，但是我也吃素”。其中三个新 雇员之内，百分之百是素食者！
PS: I was liberal with 了, sometimes placing it where I wasn't sure it had to be just to see people's reactions.