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了

le / liǎo

了le

1. aspect particle completed action (after a verb)

   我吃了两碗饭。

   Wǒ chī le liǎng wǎn fàn.

   I ate two bowls of rice.

2. modal particle change or new state (sentence-final)

   他胖了。

   Tā pàng le.

   He has gotten fat.

3. modal particle with 太 etc., simply confirms a state

   我太累了。

   Wǒ tài lèi le.

   I am so tired.

4. modal particle 要…了 / 快…了: something is about to happen

   要下雨了。

   Yào xià yǔ le.

   It is about to rain.

了liǎo

1. verb after 得/不 as potential complement: able to; to finish

   这么多菜，我吃不了。

   Zhème duō cài, wǒ chī bu liǎo.

   So much food — I cannot finish it.

2. verb to finish; to settle; to fulfill

   去中国旅游是她未了的心愿。

   Qù Zhōngguó lǚyóu shì tā wèiliǎo de xīnyuàn.

   Traveling to China is her unfulfilled wish.

3. verb to understand clearly

   他对情况一目了然。

   Tā duì qíngkuàng yīmùliǎorán.

   He sees the situation at a glance.

The full ChinesePath dictionary entry for 了 includes audio for every reading and example sentence, more example sentences, collocations, synonyms and links to the course units where it is taught.