Past Tense in Mandarin

Past Tense in Mandarin

Action Verb with 了(Le)
In Mandarin, the past tense is marked by the particle 了(le) after an action verb. See the example below:
1.我昨天吃了苹果。
Wǒ zuótiān chī le píngguǒ.
I ate an apple yesterday.
The basic form of the verb is 吃(chī) which means eat, then plus 了(le), now it becomes ate.
2.他喝了一杯咖啡。
Tā hē le yībēi kāfēi.
He drank a cup of coffee.

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