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Lesson

Change of State (了)

1. Explain it simply

A 了 at the END of a sentence marks a CHANGE - a new situation.

天气冷了 means the weather has turned cold (it wasn't before).

我会说中文了 means I can speak Chinese now (a new ability).

Keep this 了 at the very end; dropping or moving it loses the change meaning.

2. Show examples

天气冷了。

Tiānqì lěng le.

The weather has turned cold.

new situation

我会说中文了。

Wǒ huì shuō Zhōngwén le.

I can speak Chinese now.

new ability

他饿了。

Tā è le.

He is hungry now.

change of state

3. Share a tip

Sentence-final 了 signals a change; it must stay at the very end, or the 'now/change' meaning disappears.

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