How to Say ‘-ed / happened’ in Traditional Chinese
了
le
[luh]
💬 Usage Tip: In [怎麼了？], [了] points to a new situation: something happened or is going on now. That's why the phrase means [What's wrong?] rather than simply [How?].
Phrase Breakdown
了
le
[luh]
particle indicating change or completed situation
A very common sentence particle; here it often helps form questions like 'what happened?'
前面是不是塞車了？
Is there traffic up ahead?
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