# 了 in 6,730 Clauses of the Chinese Bible

> 了 as a particle appears in 6,730 clauses of the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified), where its position decides whether it completes a verb or announces a new state of affairs.

**Pattern:** verb + 了 (completed) · clause + 了 (new situation)
**HSK level:** 1 — the highest HSK level of the point's own function words, as data/dict.json grades them; a word the HSK lists do not grade sends the point to 'beyond'
**Rule used to find it:** 了 read le. Where it ends the clause it marks a new state of affairs; anywhere else it follows the verb it completes.
**Confidence:** counted — 30 of 6,730 matches checked, 100% correct, by Claude Opus 5, reading each sampled clause in context; not a native speaker

了 has two jobs and one form. After a verb it marks the action as finished — 杀了扫罗, killed Saul. At the end of a clause it says a new situation has come about — 桑拉死了, Samlah died, with the emphasis on what is now the case. The genealogies of Chronicles use the second of these dozens of times in a row, which makes them an unexpectedly good place to meet it.

The Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified) uses 了 6,737 times. 7 of those occurrences are the same words doing something else.

The segmenter reads 了 as le rather than liǎo almost everywhere, and the handful of liǎo readings are the verb 'to finish'. Because the reading is part of the rule, those are excluded rather than counted.

The rule is: 了 read le. Where it ends the clause it marks a new state of affairs; anywhere else it follows the verb it completes. 30 of its 6,730 matches were drawn at random and checked one by one; 100% were right. Recall is not measured, so the figure is what this rule finds, not everything the translation contains.

## Examples

- **Matthew 9:7** — 那人就起来，回家去了。
  - nà rén jiù qǐ lái ， huí jiā qù le 。
  - He arose and departed to his house.
  - construction: 了
- **Acts 21:6** — 我们上了船，他们就回家去了。
  - wǒ men shàng le chuán ， tā men jiù huí jiā qù le 。
  - After saying goodbye to each other, we went on board the ship, and they returned home again.
  - construction: 了
- **Job 1:2** — 他生了七个儿子，三个女儿。
  - tā shēng le qī gè ér zi ， sān gè nǚ ér 。
  - There were born to him seven sons and three daughters.
  - construction: 了
- **John 7:29** — 我却认识他；因为我是从他来的，他也是差了我来。」
  - wǒ què rèn shi tā ； yīn wèi wǒ shì cóng tā lái de ， tā yě shì chāi le wǒ lái 。」
  - I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”
  - construction: 了
- **Luke 17:19** — 就对那人说：「起来，走吧！你的信救了你了。」
  - jiù duì nà rén shuō ：「 qǐ lái ， zǒu ba ！ nǐ de xìn jiù le nǐ le 。」
  - Then he said to him, “Get up, and go your way. Your faith has healed you.”
  - construction: 了
- **Mark 14:42** — 起来！我们走吧。看哪，那卖我的人近了！」
  - qǐ lái ！ wǒ men zǒu ba 。 kàn nǎ ， nà mài wǒ de rén jìn le ！」
  - Arise! Let’s get going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand.”
  - construction: 了

## The words this point is built on

| Word | Reading | HSK | Occurrences |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 了 | le | 1 | 6,730 |
| 了 | liǎo | 1 | 6 |
| 了 | liào | 1 | 1 |

The HSK column is the level data/dict.json gives the word, and it is what puts this point at level 1.

## What those occurrences are doing

|  | Occurrences | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| the construction | 6,730 | 100% |
| the same words doing something else | 7 | 0% |

## Where it occurs most

| Book | Clauses |
| --- | --- |
| Genesis | 637 |
| Luke | 397 |
| Matthew | 397 |
| Acts | 387 |
| John | 293 |

Counted from what the rule matched, before the audit — a ranking, not a published total.

## Questions

**Does 了 mean past tense?**

No. Chinese does not mark tense on the verb at all. 了 marks completion or change, and a sentence with 了 can be about the future: the action is presented as done at the point the sentence is talking about.

**How often does it occur in the Chinese Bible?**

6,730 clauses in the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified), out of 6,737 occurrences of the words that mark it.

**Which book of the Bible uses it most?**

Genesis, with 637 — followed by Luke (397), Matthew (397), Acts (387).

**How do you know the count is right?**

The rule is: 了 read le. Where it ends the clause it marks a new state of affairs; anywhere else it follows the verb it completes. 30 of its 6,730 matches were drawn at random and checked one by one; 100% were right. Recall is not measured, so the figure is what this rule finds, not everything the translation contains.

Page: https://chinese-bible.com/en/grammar/le-aspect

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