Perfect in Modern Mandarin Chinese

Abstract

This paper looks at the category of perfect in Modern Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua). There are two main perfect marker “imposters” in modern Mandarin, namely the verbal suffix guo (过) and the sentence-final particle le (了). The paper examines the properties and usage of the two elements in turn, paying special attention to the notion of evidentiality in respect to these elements. Examples for each property are provided, which are borrowed from electronic corpora, prior literature on the subject, and personal conversation. We argue that while both elements possess certain features of a perfect marker, the sentential particle is closer to this function according to its usage, although it is not part of the verbal paradigm.