II. Change-of-state le 了used in sentences with different predicates

 

The new situation marker le了 is used at the end of a sentence in which the predicate is a noun, a stative verb or an action verb. An action verb may be preceded by an optative or modal verb. The change-of-state le了 is also used in shì是and yǒu有sentences.

 

A. Le了 at the end of a sentence with a noun as the predicate.

 

A 1.1   Jīntiān xīngqīwǔ le. 

  今天星期五了。

            Today is Friday (already). /It has turned into Friday today.

The underlying statement is that time has passed and it has changed from Thursday into a new day, Friday. If le了 is eliminated, the sentence simply announces the day of the week. Compare it with the following sentence which does not have the change-of-state le了.

 

A 1.2   Jīntiān xīngqīwǔ. 

  今天星期五。

            Today is Friday.

This sentence simply states the fact that ‘today’ is Friday.

 

A. 2.1  Xiànzài yǐjīng shí yuè le. 

  现在已经十月了。

            It is already October now. /It has already become October now.

This sentence shows that time has passed and that it has progressed into a new month, October. Compare it with the following sentence which does not have the change-of-state le了.

 

A 2.2   Xiànzài shì shí yuè. 

  现在是十月。

            It is October.

This sentence simply announces the fact that the month in question is October.