已经…了 — “already”
Pattern: 已经 + V + 了
已经 + verb + 了 — it has already happened: 我已经吃饭了 “I’ve already eaten”. Not yet: 还没 + verb + 呢 — 我还没吃呢 “I haven’t eaten yet”.
Examples
| 1 | 我已经吃饭了。 wǒ yǐjīng chīfàn le I’ve already eaten. |
| 2 | 他已经走了。 tā yǐjīng zǒu le He has already left. |
| 3 | 我还没吃呢。 wǒ hái méi chī ne I haven’t eaten yet. |
| 4 | 电影已经开始了吗？ diànyǐng yǐjīng kāishǐ le ma Has the film started already? |
A common mistake
- ✕ Wrong:
我已经没吃饭。→ ✓ Right: 我还没吃饭呢。
Explanations and examples by Zitou. Pinyin added automatically and checked.