了 - le - Chinese character definition, English meaning and stroke order

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HSK 1 - Easy
2 strokes
Simplified (switch to Traditional)

了

le

Definition

completed action (marker)
昨天下雨了。

It rained yesterday.
particle (used after a verb to indicate the completion of an action)
我买了几个苹果。

I bought several apples.
status marker (used at the end of a sentence to indicate a change in situation or state)
我今天下午不去学校了。

I'm not going to school this afternoon.
change in situation (or state)
modal particle (intensifying preceding clause)
你的围巾快掉了。

Hey, your scarf is slipping off.
grammatical word

Other pronunciations

liǎo

(of eyes) bright
clear-sighted
to understand clearly

Character Decomposition

Compounds (12)

子

(noun suffix)

子

zǐ

year of the Rat; radical (Kang Xi 39); son; child; graphic and meaning component (child, children); person; seed; egg; small thing; young; 1st earthly branch (period from 11 p.m.-1 a.m., midnight; 11th solar month [7th December to 5th January]); Viscount (fourth of five orders of nobility 五等爵位); ancient Chinese compass point( 0° [north])

承

chéng

to bear; to carry; to hold; to continue; to undertake; to take charge; owing to; due to; to receive

涵

hán

to contain; to include; culvert

函

hán

envelope; case; letter

辽

Liáo

short name for Liaoning 辽宁 province; Liao or Khitan dynasty (907-1125)

亨

hēng

prosperous; henry (unit of inductance)

疗

liáo

to treat; to cure; therapy

lotus blossom

urgent

ruthenium (chemistry)

亟

qì

repeatedly; frequently

Related words (46)

了去了

le qù le

(coll.) (after adjectives such as 多, 大, 远, 高) very; extremely

为了

wèi le

for; because (of); for the sake (of); in order to; for the purpose (of); so as to

bought

failed; busted; to have not succeeded; to have died; to have parted company; to have chilled (of a relationship)

坏了

huài le

shoot(!); broken; gosh(!); oh no(!); to the utmost (suffix)

完了

wán le

to be finished; to be done for; ruined; gone to the dogs; oh no

对了

duì le

correct(!); right; oh, that's right (... when one suddenly remembers something one wanted to mention); oh, by the way

得了

dé le

all right; (that's) enough

成了

chéng le

to be done; to be ready; that's enough!; that will do!

极了

jí le

extremely; exceedingly

没了

méi le

to be dead; died; to cease to exist; not to be; to have disappeared; to have vanished; to be without; to be lacking; not to have

算了

suàn le

let it be; let it pass; forget about it; forget it

gosh!; oh no!; darn!

that's that; that's it; that will do

罢了

bà le

(modal) particle; that's all; only; nothing much; nevermind; forget it

late

beside; other than; besides; apart from; in addition (to); except (for)

to spare; to forgive

to be dead; to have passed away

不行了

bù xíng le

on the point of death; dying

sth bad happened

say no more; don't bring it up; drop the subject

卖光了

mài guāng le

to be sold out; to be out of stock

fed up of hearing

very good; great; awesome; wonderful

就晚了

jiù wǎn le

then it's too late (colloquial)

帅呆了

shuài dāi le

awesome; brilliant; magnificent

有了胎

yǒu le tāi

pregnant; to carry a child

super; excellent

(dialect) give me a break!; forget about it!

褶子了

zhě zi le

to make a mess of sth; to bungle; to mismanage

说了算

shuō le suàn

to have the final say; to be the one in charge

to speak frankly

determined; unshakable

严了眼儿

yán le yǎn r

up to the eyeballs; full to overflowing; jampacked

ecstatic; overjoyed

to be ready

felt a chill (in one's heart); (one's heart) sank

多了去了

duō le qù le

(coll.) aplenty; millions of

摆了一道

bǎi le yī dào

to play tricks on; to make a fool of

眼圈红了

yǎn quān hóng le

to be on the verge of tears

翅膀硬了

chì bǎng yìng le

(of a bird) to have become fully fledged; (fig.) (of a person) to have grown up (and become independent); to be ready to spread one's wings

进了天堂

jìn le tiān táng

to die; to enter the hall of heaven

to feel reassured

fuck!; motherfucker!; fucking

吃饱了饭撑的

chī bǎo le fàn chēng de

having nothing better to do; see 吃飽撐著|吃饱撑着

Idioms (9)

脸都绿了

liǎn dōu lǜ le

green in the face (idiom); to look unwell

好了伤疤忘了疼

hǎo le shāng bā wàng le téng

to forget past pains once the wound has healed (idiom)

赔了夫人又折兵

péi le fū rén yòu zhé bīng

having given away a bride, to lose one's army on top of it (idiom); to suffer a double loss after trying to trick the enemy

过了这村没这店

guò le zhè cūn méi zhè diàn

past this village, you won't find this shop (idiom); this is your last chance

好心倒做了驴肝肺

hǎo xīn dào zuò le lǘ gān fēi

(lit.) to mistake good intentions for a donkey's liver and lungs (idiom); (fig.) to mistake good intentions for ill intent

捡了芝麻丢了西瓜

jiǎn le zhī ma diū le xī guā

to let go of the big prize while grabbing at trifles (idiom)

一粒老鼠屎坏了一锅粥

yī lì lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō zhōu

(lit.) a piece of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of congee (idiom); (fig.) one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch

一颗老鼠屎坏了一锅汤

yī kē lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō tāng

(lit.) a piece of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of soup (idiom); (fig.) one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch

一颗老鼠屎坏了一锅粥

yī kē lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō zhōu

see 一粒老鼠屎坏了一锅粥; (lit.) a piece of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of congee (idiom); (fig.) one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch

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