Level 4 · Lesson 5

我已经写完了
I've already finished writing

我已经写完了。我买到那本词典了。

已经 … 了, and the first two result endings — 完 and 到 — glued straight onto the verb.

听 · Listen

你写完了吗？
 王老师 —  李明，你写完了吗？ 
Li Ming, have you finished writing?  
 李明 —  我已经写完了。 
I've already finished.  
 王老师 —  安娜呢？ 
And Anna?  
 安娜 —  我没写完。我八点开始写。 
I haven't finished. I started writing at eight.  
 王老师 —  现在几点了？ 
What time is it now?  
 李明 —  现在十点了。 
It's ten o'clock now.  
 安娜 —  老师，我买到那本词典了。 
Teacher, I managed to get hold of that dictionary.  
 王老师 —  很好。今天的课结束了。 
Very good. Today's class is over.  

讲解 · Explanation

我写完了。我吃完了。他说完了。

完 is not a separate word here — it is glued straight onto the verb and says how the action came out. 写 is 'write'; 写完 is 'write and get to the end of it'. Chinese builds hundreds of verbs this way: 吃完 eat up, 看完 finish reading, 说完 finish speaking. The 了 then comes after the pair, because 写完 now counts as a single verb.

我买到那本词典了。我看到李明了。

到 is the second of these endings, and it means the action reached its target. 买 is 'buy' — the trying, the going to the shop; 买到 is 'manage to get'. 看 is 'look'; 看到 is 'actually see'. Chinese is careful about this difference: an attempt and its success are two different verbs.

我已经吃完了。我没写完。八点开始上课，十点结束。

已经 goes before the verb and 了 closes the sentence; the two work as a pair, so 已经…了 usually travel together. To say it did not happen, use 没 and drop the 了, exactly as you learned two lessons ago: 我没写完. And 开始 and 结束 are ordinary verbs, not endings — they stand on their own: 八点开始, 课结束了.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
已经	already	pairs with a final 了: 已经…了
完	to finish (attached to a verb)	写完 xiěwán, 吃完 chīwán, 看完 kànwán
到	to reach, manage to (attached to a verb)	买到 mǎidào, 看到 kàndào
开始	to begin, to start	八点开始上课
结束	to end, to finish	课结束了 kè jiéshù le

练习 · Practice

我 ______ 那本书了。 I've finished reading that book.

昨天我 ______ 那本词典了。 Yesterday I managed to get hold of that dictionary.

我 ______ 吃完了。 Fill in the adverb: 'I've already eaten up.'

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'I've already finished writing.'

已经、完、到、开始、结束 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

我已经吃完了。我没看完那本书。八点开始，十点结束。

Say three sentences aloud. One thing you have already finished today, with 已经…了 — a meal, a book, a piece of writing. One thing you have not finished, with 没…完. And one plan with its two ends: 我八点开始…，十点结束. Then take any verb you know and try both endings on it: 看 / 看完 / 看到, 买 / 买完 / 买到.