Asking about completed past actions, in Chinese - Lesson 26

Contents of this lesson

1. Vocabulary

2. Grammar

3. Dialogues

4. Exercices

1. Vocabulary

Words of the dialogues

Additional words

2. Grammar

A. Questions with 了没有 ‹ le méiyǒu ›

"...了没有 ‹ ...le méiyǒu ›" at the end of a sentence in Chinese allows to ask whether an action has been achieved or not. For the first-person singular, 了没有？ ‹ le méiyǒu? › can be translated into English as "Have you or not ...?".

• 你 给 大卫 打电话 了没有？ ‹ Nǐ gěi Dàwèi dǎdiànhuà le méi yǒu? ›
  Did you give a phone call to David?
• 你 跟 王丽 见面 了没有？ ‹ Nǐ gēn Wáng Lì jiànmiàn le méi yǒu? ›
  Did you met with Li?

B. Questions with 没 ‹ méi ›

没 ‹ méi › alone can be used to formulate questions identical to those created with 了没有 ‹ le méiyǒu ›. These are also used to inquire on past actions. However 没 ‹ méi › adapts better with a monosyllabic verb.

• 你 前天 上 没 上 课 ？ ‹ Nǐ qiántiān shàng méi shàng kè? ›
  Have you been to the class day before yesterday?

C. "Before" and "after" in the course of time

以前 ‹ yǐqián › and 以后 ‹ yǐhòu › are used in Chinese to express an action taking place respectively "before" or "after" an event. Unlike in English, these words are placed at the end of the first part of the sentence.

• 吃完中饭 以后，他们 去 了 看电影。 ‹ Chī wán zhōngfàn yǐhòu, tāmen qù le kàn diànyǐng. ›
  After we had lunch, we went to watch a movie.
• 我 来中国 以前，不 喜欢 喝茶。 ‹ Wǒ lái Zhōngguó yǐqián, bù xǐhuan hē chá. ›
  Before coming to China, I didn't like drinking tea.

• 我 一个星期 以后 回来。 ‹ Wǒ yī gè xīngqí yǐhòu huílái. ›
  I'll come back in a week.
• 三天 以前，我 在 北京。 ‹ Sān tiān yǐqián, wǒ zài Běijīng. ›
  Three days ago I was in Beijing. (lit. "Before three days ...")

3. Dialogues

Dialogue N° 1

- 你前天买东西了没有？ ‹ Nǐ qiántiān mǎi dōngxī le méi yǒu? ›
- 没有。 ‹ Méi yǒu. ›
- 你今天吃早饭了没有？ ‹ Nǐ jīntiān chī zǎofàn le méi yǒu? ›
- 吃了。 ‹ Chī le. ›

Translation :

- Have you purchased anything day before yesterday?
- No
- Have you had breakfast today?
- Yes

Dialogue N° 2

- 喂，大卫？ ‹ Wèi, Dàwèi? ›
- 是我。找我有事吗？ ‹ Shì wǒ. Zhǎo wǒ yǒu shì ma? ›
- 你上午怎么没接我的电话？我打给你的时候，一直占线······ ‹ Nǐ shàngwǔ zěnme méi jiē wǒ de diànhuà? Wǒ dǎ gěi nǐ de shíhòu, yīzhí zhànxiàn... ›
- 不好意思，今天上午出去跑步了。没带手机。 ‹ Bùhǎoyìsi, jīntiān shàngwǔ chūqù pǎobù le. Méi dài shǒujī. ›
回家以后，也没发现手机没电了。 ‹ Huí jiā yǐhòu, yě méi fāxiàn shǒujī méi diànle. ›
- 哦好吧······ 听说AUX商场的很多东西都在打折， 你去过了没有？ ‹ Ó hǎo ba... Tīng shuō AUX shāngchǎng de hěn duō dōngxī dōu zài dǎzhé, nǐ qùguò le méi yǒu? ›
- 没有。今天下午我可以陪你去那儿逛逛。 ‹ Méi yǒu. Jīntiān xiàwǔ wǒ kěyǐ péi nǐ qù nàr guàngguang. ›
- 同意！我有好多东西要买。 ‹ Tóngyì! Wǒ yǒu hǎo duō dōngxī yāo mǎi. ›
- 好的。咱们两点半在商场门口见吧。 ‹ Hǎode. Zánmen liǎng diǎn bàn zài shāngchǎng ménkǒu jiàn ba. ›
- 行。我让我爸开车带我过去。 ‹ Xíng. Wǒ ràng wǒ bà kāi chē dài wǒ guòqù. ›

Translation :

- Hello? David?
- That's me. What's  happening?
- Why didn't you answer my phone call this morning? When I called you, your phone was always busy.
- Sorry, this morning I went out for running. I had not taken my phone. And after returning, I haven't seen the battery was down.
- Ah OK...  I've heard that many things are on sale at AUX mall, did you go there?
- No. This afternoon I can go with you for a walk there.
- Alright! There are many things I want to buy.
- OK. We can just meet at half past two in front of the shopping center entrance.
- Okay. I ask my father to take me there.

4. Exercices

A. Create sentences

Create a Chinese dialogue similar to the dialogue No. 1, with the list of the following verbs - objects:

看书，去银行，吃午饭，看电视， 踢足球， 写汉字， 买衣服， 试帽子， 休息， 喝水

B. Translate into Chinese

Translate into Chinese the following sentences :

1. After finishing school, I return home.
2. After eating, I drink water.
3. Before going to the classes, I'll buy something.
4. After lunch, I watch television.