你吃飯了嗎？ (“Have you eaten?”) — A Perfect Example of Chinese Grammar for Asking About Completed Actions (5-Minute read)

When you want to ask whether someone has already done something, Chinese uses a simple and very common pattern in everyday Chinese grammar: S + VO + 了 + 嗎？

• 了 (le) shows that an action is completed.

• 嗎 (ma) makes the sentence a question.

Together, “了嗎？” literally means: ➡️ “Have you already done (this thing)?”

It’s similar to asking in English: “Did you…?” or “Have you…?”

The Sentence Pattern

Question: S + VO + 了 + 嗎？

• 你＋吃飯＋了＋嗎？Have you eaten?

• 她寫功課了嗎？Has she finished her homework?

• 弟弟吃藥了嗎？Did your younger brother take his medicine?

• 姊姊打掃房間了嗎？Has your sister cleaned her room?

Answer: S + VO + 了。

• 我吃飯了。I have eaten.

• 她寫功課了。She finished her homework.

• 弟弟吃藥了。My younger brother took his medicine.

This Chinese grammar is pretty easy, right? 😆

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