English–Chinese
“already” in Chinese
How to say “already” in Chinese
“Already” in Chinese is 了 (le).
Signals a boundary in a situation: an action is now complete, or the situation has crossed into a new state.
Example sentences with 了
他去了学校。tā qù le xué xiào
He went to school.
Tips for using 了
- At the end of a sentence, this particle often highlights a new situation, so it can mean that something has newly become true rather than that an earlier action occurred.
Other Chinese words for “already”
我已经吃过了。wǒ yǐ jīng chī guò le
I have already eaten.
我早就知道这件事了。wǒ zǎo jiù zhī dào zhè jiàn shì le
I already knew about this.
他已不在这里。tā yǐ bú zài zhè lǐ
He is no longer here.
机会已失，补救无效矣。jī huì yǐ shī bǔ jiù wú xiào yǐ
The opportunity has already been lost, and remedial action is ineffective.