Lesson 17 Dialogue 1 Grammar
Verb + 了 (le) + Numeral + Measure Word + Noun + 了 (le) 王朋在學校的宿舍住了兩個學期了。 Wáng Péng zài xuéxiào de sùshè zhù le liǎng ge xuéqī le. Wang Peng has been living on campus for two semesters up to this moment. The sentence usually implies that the action has been continuing for some time and is expected to last into the future.
A: 你開出租汽車開了幾年了？ Nǐ kāi chūzū qìchē kāi le jǐ nián le? How many years have you been driving a cab? B: 一年半了。 Yì nián bàn le. For a year and a half now.
*弟弟寫電子郵件寫了半個鐘頭了，不知道還要寫多長時間。 *Dìdi xiě diànzǐ yóujiàn xiě le bàn ge zhōngtóu le, bù zhīdào hái yào xiě duō cháng shíjiān. *My younger brother has been writing e-mails for half an hour. Who knows how much longer he will be.
different in meaning: 他病了三天。 Tā bìng le sān tiān. He was sick for three days. He recovered from the illness on the fourth day. 他病了三天了。 Tā bìng le sān tiān le. He has been sick for three days. The illness has continued for three days and he currently remains sick.
I’ve been cleaning the house all morning. I’d like to take a break. 我打掃房子打掃了一上午了，想休息一下。 Wǒ dǎsǎo fángzi dǎsǎo le yí shàngwǔ le, xiǎng xiūxi yí xià.
This structure can also be used to indicate quantity: 衣服我已經買了三件了，够了。 Yīfu wǒ yǐjīng mǎi le sān jiàn le, gòu le. I have already bought three pieces of clothing. That’s plenty.
I’ve read this letter twice already and don’t want to read it again. 這封信我已經看了兩遍了，不想再看了。 Zhè fēng xìn wǒ yǐjīng kàn le liǎng biàn le, bù xiǎng zài kàn le.
連…都/也 (lián...dōu/yě) 我姐姐的孩子很聰明，連俄文都會說。 Wǒ jiějie de háizi hěn cōngming, lián è wén dōu huì shuō. My sister’s child is really smart. She can even speak Russianese.
我弟弟學中文學了一年了，可是連“天”字都不會寫。 Wǒ dìdi xué Zhōngwén xuéle yì nián le, kěshì lián “tiān” zì dōu bú huì xiě. My younger brother has been studying Chinese for a year now, but can’t even write the character 天.
你怎麼連藥都忘了吃？ Nǐ zěnme lián yào dōu wàng le chī? How could you forget even to take your medicine?
昨天學的生詞我連一個也不記得了。 Zuótiān xué de shēngcí wǒ lián yí ge yě bú jìde le. I can’t recall even a single word we learned yesterday.
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