From: Not So Silent Night

tamutom
December 31, 2010, 04:02 AM posted in General Discussion

Hi Helen,

In 银行关门了,只好明天再来了。Yínháng guānmén,zhǐhǎo míngtiān zài lái le. (The bank is closed. You can only come back tomorrow.) - What is the second 了 indicating? I understand the first one could mean either that the action of closing the bank is completed, or that the situation has changed: the bank was open, but now it is closed. But for the final 了 I don’t see coming back as a completed action, even though this 了 is right after a verb. If it is indicating a changed situation, then I need to think about how to understand when that is needed. It is at the end of the sentence, but I don’t see how it should indicate an on-going action, since your returning will not start until tomorrow. Could the second 了 just be for emphasis?

谢谢,

-Tom

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