Subject + Verb + 了
Reach for this when something has happened or a state has changed — 'the baby got sick,' 'mom cried,' 'the plane took off.' The particle 了 at the end of the clause is a change-of-state marker: things were one way, now they're another. It's one of the first 了's HSK 1 learners meet, and one of the most misused. Neutral register, the bread-and-butter way to talk about what just happened.
Structure
Subject + Verb + (Object) + 了
[Subject] [Verb] le
How to Think About It
Sentence-final 了 isn't a past-tense marker — it's a 'new situation' marker. 他来了 = 'he's here now (he wasn't before).' 他来 alone is just 'he comes,' no change implied. Think of 了 as 'and now this is the state of the world.' If nothing changed, no 了. Past time alone doesn't trigger 了; the change does.
Examples
孩子睡了。
Háizi shuì le.
The kid fell asleep.
下雨了。
Xiàyǔ le.
It's started raining.
他生病了。
Tā shēngbìng le.
He got sick.
Common Mistake
Learners attach 了 to every past-time verb, even when the sentence is describing a routine or habit. 了 marks a change, not a tense — habitual past actions don't need it.
我小时候每天去学校了。
我小时候每天去学校。
Don't Confuse With
Verb + 过
Marks an experience ('have done X before'). 了 marks a change of state at this moment; 过 marks that something happened at some point in the past.
Verb + 着
Ongoing state ('door is open'). 了 is for the moment the state CHANGED ('door opened').
Verb-了 (mid-sentence)
When 了 sits right after the verb (not at the end), it marks the completion of that specific verb. Sentence-final 了 is bigger — it's about the situation as a whole.
Practice
Fill in: 妈妈哭____。
Show answer
了
Fill in: 宝宝____了。 (woke up)
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醒
Arrange: 飞机 / 了 / 走 / 已经
Show answer
飞机已经走了。
Translate to Chinese: The lights turned off.
Show answer
灯关了。
Write a sentence with 了 describing a change you noticed today.
Show answer
今天天气变冷了。
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 2 Fluentide episodes: