What does 了 mean in Chinese?

了 (le) means "completed action marker" in Chinese. The new HSK exam expects you to recognise it at HSK 1.

How do you write 了?

了 is written with 2 strokes, starting from the 乙 (second) radical and following standard Chinese stroke order (top to bottom, left to right). See the interactive stroke-order tool for the full animation.

What is the radical of 了?

The radical of 了 is 乙 (second, Kangxi radical #5). Other common HSK characters using the same radical include 习, 书, 也, 买.

How many strokes does 了 have?

The Chinese character 了 has 2 strokes.

What HSK level is 了?

On the new HSK exam syllabus, 了 is a character to recognise at HSK 1 and to write by hand at HSK 2 (the handwriting list HSK 1 and 2 share).

了 (le): Meaning, Stroke Order, Radical & Examples

了

completed action marker

HSK 1 character 2 strokes Radical: 乙 (second)

Quick Answer

了 (le) means "completed action marker" with 2 strokes, radical 乙 (second), HSK 1 on the new exam.

Full dictionary entry for 了 →Animated stroke-order for 了 →

Pronunciation

Meaning

Primary: completed action marker

Etymology

Oracle-bone origin

了 does not appear clearly in oracle-bone script, and its early forms in small seal script show a curved figure often interpreted as a child with bound or missing arms, related graphically to 子. Some scholars read it as a pictograph of a swaddled infant, which motivates the old meaning of finish or conclude as in completing the act of being born.

Form evolution

Small seal 了 is a single curling stroke suggesting a bundled child. Clerical script squared the top and produced the hooked tail still visible today. Modern 楷书 keeps the two-stroke shape with no structural change, making it one of the most stable characters in the standard script.

How the meaning evolved

The oldest verbal sense is to finish or understand fully, preserved in 了解 (understand) and 了结 (settle, finish). From this completive meaning 了 was grammaticalised in Middle and Late Chinese into the aspect particle that now marks completed or changed-state actions, as in 吃了 (ate) and 下雨了 (it has started raining). The lexical verb and the particle coexist in modern Mandarin.

Cultural note

The same graph is read liǎo as a verb and le as a particle, and choosing the wrong reading is a classic learner error. A useful anchor is the set phrase 一目了然 (yī mù liǎo rán, clear at a glance), which keeps the older full verbal meaning.

Mnemonic

A hook marks the end — it is done

Basic info

Pinyin	le
Meanings	completed action marker
Stroke count	2 strokes
Radical	乙 (#5: second)
New HSK exam	Recognise at HSK 1, write by hand at HSK 1-2
Frequency	#155 most common

Example sentences

我吃了饭。
Wǒ chī le fàn.
I ate.
From 了 (HSK 1)
我想了解中国文化。
Wǒ xiǎng liǎojiě Zhōngguó wénhuà.
I want to understand Chinese culture.
From 了解 (HSK 3)
除了我，大家都去了。
Chúle wǒ, dàjiā dōu qù le.
Everyone went except me.
From 除了 (HSK 3)

Words containing 了

Word	Pinyin	Meaning	HSK
了	le	completed action marker	HSK 1
为了	wèile	in order to	HSK 3
了解	liǎojiě	understand	HSK 3
除了	chúle	except	HSK 3
受不了	shòubuliǎo	Cannot bear sth	HSK 4
了不起	liǎobuqǐ	Amazing	HSK 5
不得了	bùdéliǎo	Very	HSK 5
不了了之	bùliǎoliǎozhī	end up with nothing definite	HSK 7-9