了

See also: 瞭

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Etymology

Pictogram (象形) – an image of a baby wrapped in a blanket, with only the head visible. Compare with 子, where the arms are visible.

Han character

了 (radical 6 亅+1, 2 strokes, cangjie input 弓弓 (NN), four-corner 1720₇)

References

• KangXi: page 85, character 11
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 226
• Dae Jaweon: page 173, character 20
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 48, character 6
• Unihan data for U+4E86

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Chinese

		-
simp. and trad.		了

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): le (le)

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄜ˙

• Cantonese (Jyutping): liu⁵
• Hakka (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ): lé
• Min Nan (POJ): liáu
• Wu (WT Romanisation): leq (T5)

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: le
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄜ˙
    • Wade-Giles: lê⁵
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: .lhe
    • IPA ^(key): /lə/

    • (file)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: liu⁵
    • Yale: líuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: liu⁵
    • IPA ^(key): /liːu̯¹³/
• Hakka
  • Romanisations:
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: lé
    • IPA (Siyen, incl. Miaoli): /le³¹/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: liáu
    • Tâi-lô: liáu
    • IPA (Taipei): /liaʊ⁴¹/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /liaʊ⁵³/
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • WT Romanisation: leq (T5)
    • IPA ^(key): /ləʔ¹²/

Middle Chinese pronunciation (了, reconstructed)
Character (了), Pronunciation 1/1
Initial: 來 (37) Final: 蕭 Division: IV			Openness: Open Tone: Rising (X)			Fanqie: 盧鳥切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/leuX/	/lieuX/	/leuX/	/leuX/	/lɛwX/	/lieuX/	/leuX/

Old Chinese pronunciation (了, reconstructed)
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character					No.					Phonetic component					Rime group					Rime subdivision					Corresponding MC rime					Old Chinese					Notes
了					8067					了					宵					2					了					/*reːwʔ/

Definitions

了

1. (Beginning Mandarin) Used after a verb, indicate perfective aspect (action completion)

   我吃了這個蘋果。 [MSC, trad.]

   我吃了这个苹果。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ chī le zhè ge píngguǒ. [Pinyin]

   I ate the apple.

2. Used at the end of a sentence, indicate a change of state.

   他是大學生了。 [MSC, trad.]

   他是大学生了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā shì dàxuéshēng le. [Pinyin]

   He has become student / He is a student now

3. (Used after a verb and followed by an amount of time, express duration) for

   他在北京住了兩年。 [MSC, trad.]

   他在北京住了两年。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā zài Běijīng zhù le liǎng nián. [Pinyin]

   He lived in Beijing for two years.

Usage notes

• (perfective aspect particle):

Most of the time, 了 is translated by a past tense. But it can also indicate that one action is completed before another.

你吃了以後，告訴我。 [MSC, trad.]

你吃了以后，告诉我。 [MSC, simp.]

Nǐ chī le yǐhòu, gàosu wǒ. [Pinyin]

Tell me when you are done eating.

• (change of state particle):

When used as the change of state particle, 了 can be translated by now, already or not anymore.

我會說中文了。 [MSC, trad.]

我会说中文了。 [MSC, simp.]

Wǒ huì shuō zhōngwén le. [Pinyin]

I can speak Chinese now. (I couldn't before)

我吃飯了。 [MSC, trad.]

我吃饭了。 [MSC, simp.]

Wǒ chīfàn le. [Pinyin]

I've eaten (already).

沒有紙了。 [MSC, trad.]

没有纸了。 [MSC, simp.]

Méiyǒu zhǐ le. [Pinyin]

There's no paper anymore.

In a question, 了 is put before the particle 嗎／吗.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): liǎo (liao³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄧㄠˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): liu⁵
• Hakka (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ): liáu
• Wu (WT Romanisation): liau (T3)

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: liǎo
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄧㄠˇ
    • Wade-Giles: liao³
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: leau
    • IPA ^(key): /li̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴/

    • (file)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: liu⁵
    • Yale: líuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: liu⁵
    • IPA ^(key): /liːu̯¹³/
• Hakka
  • Romanisations:
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: liáu
    • IPA (Siyen, incl. Miaoli): /li̯au̯³¹/
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • WT Romanisation: liau (T3)
    • IPA ^(key): /liɔ²³/

Definitions

了

1. to finish
2. to understand

   瞭解／了解 (liǎojiě) (to understand, to realize )

References

• "CC-CEDICT" (in Mandarin/English), URL accessed on 2014-02-13.
• "Tatoeba", URL accessed on 2014-02-13.
• "Change of state with "le"", Chinese Grammar Wiki. URL accessed on 2014-02-13.
• "Expressing completion with "le"", Chinese Grammar Wiki. URL accessed on 2014-02-13.
• "Expressing duration with "le"", Chinese Grammar Wiki. URL accessed on 2014-02-13.

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Japanese

Kanji

了

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

1. finish, complete

Readings

• On: りょう (ryō)
• Kun: おわる (owaru), ついに (tsuini)

Compounds

• 了解
• 了承

Proper noun

了 (hiragana さとる, romaji Satoru)

1. A male given name

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Korean

Hanja

了 (ryo>yo) (hangeul 료>요, revised ryo>yo, McCune-Reischauer ryo>yo, Yale lyo>yo)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

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Vietnamese

Han character

了 (liễu)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.