Change of State with 了

01

On Adjectives

This is where the particle is furthest from anything English has. Attached to an adjective it turns a description into a development: not it is late but it has got late. English needs a different verb — become, get, grow — where Hakka adds one syllable.

• 𠊎婆也老了。

  ngai po rha+ loˊ leˋngài phò yå ló lê

  My grandmother has grown old too.

• 𠊎阿婆既經當老了。

  ngai a+ po giˇ ginˋ dongˋ loˊ leˋngài å phò ki kîn tông ló lê

  My grandma has already grown quite old.

02

With 既經

An adverb meaning already often stands before the verb while 了 (leˋlê) closes the sentence. The two work together: the adverb places the change in the past, the particle marks that its result holds now.

• 𠊎既經摎手機仔借分你了。

  ngai giˇ ginˋ lauˋ shiuˊ giˋ er ziaˇ bunˋ ngi leˋngài ki kîn lâu shiú kî èr tsia pûn ngì lê

  I've already lent you my cell phone.

• 這間店仔既經關門了。

  liaˊ gienˋ diamˇ er giˇ ginˋ guanˋ mun leˋliá kiên tiam èr ki kîn kôan mùn lê

  This shop has already closed.

03

Announcing a Decision

Because it marks a newly arrived situation, 了 (leˋlê) is the natural way to announce that something must now happen — that it is time to leave, or that a state of affairs has just changed for the worse.

• 巴士慢分了。

  ba siiˋ man+ funˋ leˋpà sṳ̂ mån fûn lê

  The bus is late now.

• 𠊎愛轉了。

  ngai oiˇ zhonˊ leˋngài oi chón lê

  I have to go home now.

• 𠊎愛去超市了。

  ngai oiˇ hiˇ ceuˋ shi+ leˋngài oi hi tshêu shi̊ lê

  I'm off to the supermarket now.

04

Reaching an Age or a Stage

Growing older, finishing school, falling ill — anything that moves a person from one state into the next takes 了 (leˋlê). English marks the same shift with now, or with a perfect tense, or with nothing at all.

• 𠊎兜个妹仔讀大學了。

  ngai deuˋ gaiˇ moiˇ er tugˋ tai+ hogˋ leˋngài têu kai moi èr thu̍k thåi ho̍k lê

  Our daughter is in college now.

• 𠊎妹仔二十歲了。

  ngai moiˇ er ngi+ shibˋ soiˇ leˋngài moi èr ngi̊ shi̍p soi lê

  My daughter is twenty years old now.

• 佢失業了。

  gi shid ngiabˋ leˋkì shit ngia̍p lê

  She's lost her job.

• 你發病仔了。

  ngi bod piang+ er leˋngì pot phiång èr lê

  You've fallen ill.

05

In Questions

A question can carry the particle too, asking what the situation has now become rather than what it simply is. This is the ordinary way to ask the time or someone's age, both of which are treated as states that keep changing.

• 這下幾多點了？

  liaˊ ha+ giˊ doˋ diamˊ leˋliá hå kí tô tiám lê

  What time is it now?

• 佢幾多歲了？

  gi giˊ doˋ soiˇ leˋkì kí tô soi lê

  How old is she?

06

Not a Past Tense

The particle marks a change of situation, not a point in time. A sentence about a completed action puts the particle directly after the verb instead, and the two positions carry quite different meanings — one says the action finished, the other says the world is now different.