Word

了 (le) — Chinese word meaning

HSK 1

Meaning of 了

助 zhù particle

(particle indicating completed action or change of state)

我吃了饭。

wǒ chī le fàn

I ate.

Word breakdown

了 le — (particle indicating completed action or change of state)

1 为了 wèi le — in order to, for the sake of HSK 3
- 为 for, to do (indicates purpose or beneficiary)
- 了 grammatical particle combining with 为 to form purpose marker
Example

为了学好中文，我每天都练习。

wèi le xué hǎo zhōng wén wǒ měi tiān dōu liàn xí

In order to learn Chinese well, I practice every day.
2 除了 chú le — except (for); besides HSK 3
- 除 to remove, to exclude
- 了 particle that completes the preposition
Example

除了中文，我还会说英语。

chú le Zhōng wén wǒ hái huì shuō Yīng yǔ

Besides Chinese, I can also speak English.
3 得了 dé le — all right; okay; that's enough HSK 6
- 得 forms part of the modal particle expressing 'enough/okay'
- 了 completes the modal particle expressing 'enough/okay'
Example

得了，不要再争了。

dé le bú yào zài zhēng le

That's enough, stop arguing.
4 算了 suàn le — forget it HSK 6
- 算 to consider, to count (implies stopping consideration)
- 了 particle indicating completion or change of state
Example

算了，我不想去了。

suàn le wǒ bù xiǎng qù le

Forget it, I don't want to go anymore.
5 罢了 bà le — that's all; nothing more; merely HSK 7
- 罢 stop; cease (contributes sense of conclusion)
- 了 completion particle (reinforces finality)
Example

我只是开个玩笑罢了。

wǒ zhǐ shì kāi ge wán xiào bà le

I was just joking, that's all.

Structure & writing

1 了 le — particle after a verb or adjective indicating completion of an action or change; ① for actions that have actually occurred; ② for anticipated or hypothetical actions

Xpinyin

了 is a component in 3 characters

HSK 1

子 zǐ child (son or daughter in ancient usage); now specifically son

HSK 5

疗 liáo to treat (illness) with medicine, surgery, etc.

HSK 7

辽 liáo distant; far

了 is an atomic character — it does not decompose further.

Stroke order