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

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

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)
我買了几个蘋果。

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

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

Hey, your scarf is slipping off.
grammatical word

Character Decomposition

Compounds (10)

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

亨

hēng

prosperous; henry (unit of inductance)

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

為了

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)

壞了

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

對了

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!

極了

jí le

extremely; exceedingly

沒了

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

罷了

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

賣光了

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)

帥呆了

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

說了算

shuō le suàn

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

to speak frankly

determined; unshakable

嚴了眼兒

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

擺了一道

bǎi le yī dào

to play tricks on; to make a fool of

眼圈紅了

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

進了天堂

jìn le tiān táng

to die; to enter the hall of heaven

to feel reassured

fuck!; motherfucker!; fucking

吃飽了飯撐的

chī bǎo le fàn chēng de

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

Idioms (9)

臉都綠了

liǎn dōu lǜ le

green in the face (idiom); to look unwell

好了傷疤忘了疼

hǎo le shāng bā wàng le téng

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

賠了夫人又折兵

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

過了這村沒這店

guò le zhè cūn méi zhè diàn

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

好心倒做了驢肝肺

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

撿了芝麻丟了西瓜

jiǎn le zhī ma diū le xī guā

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

一粒老鼠屎壞了一鍋粥

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

一顆老鼠屎壞了一鍋湯

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

一顆老鼠屎壞了一鍋粥

yī kē lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō zhōu

see 一粒老鼠屎壞了一鍋粥; (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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