A Character a Day 了 part 4

The video covers positive 了 sentence pattern with transitive verb:
subject action 1 就 action 2



Notes of this video:

In the previous section, we talked about the positive sentence pattern with transitive verb. And I mentioned that if the object of the sentence is a simple noun or general term, the sentence sounds incomplete in a native speaker's ear.

When the object is a simple noun, one of the most common了 sentence pattern is:

Subject action 1 就 action 2

In these sentence pattern, 就 implies that the second action happens very shortly after the first action completes.

For example,

我借了书就去看电影。

I will go to watch a movie shortly after I borrow the book.

明天我借了书就去看电影。

I will go to watch a movie after I borrow the book tomorrow.

昨晚我借了书就去看电影了。

Last evening, I went to watch a movie shortly after I borrowed the book.

Maybe you already noticed that there is another 了 at the end of the sentence. It's called the modal 了, also known as 了2. I will talk about it soon.

This sentence pattern can also be used to describe the habitual action.

每天晚上我吃了晚饭就看书。

After I eat supper, I read a book every evening.

Then, when can we just simply say “我借了书。”? I borrowed the book.

When you answer a question. “ 你借了书吗？” Have you borrow the book?

In this context, both the people in the dialogue know what book they are talking about.

Now it's your turn, please translate the following sentence into English and leave your answer as comments.

今晚我吃了饭就学习。

I will study right after I finish eating.

每天晚上我写了作业就休息。

I will rest right after I finish my homework.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8