The 了 of completed action

Structure Verb + 了 (+ object)

了 (le) right after the verb marks the action as REALIZED (often past, but it is ASPECT, not "tense": it says the action was completed, not exactly when). To negate it you use 没(有) and DROP the 了: 我没吃 ("I didn’t eat"), never 没吃了. In questions: 你看了吗？

Examples

我wǒ吃chī了le一yī个ge苹píng果guǒ。
I ate an apple.
他tā买mǎi了le一yī本běn书shū。
He bought a book.
你nǐ看kàn了le吗ma？
Did you see it?

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