Completed Aspect 咗
Completed action marker
I can talk about completed actions.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
我食咗飯喇。
I've eaten.
佢走咗喇。
He/She has left.
你買咗咩？
What did you buy?
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
咗 zo2 — Completed Aspect
Place 咗 directly AFTER the verb to indicate the action is completed:
S + V + 咗 + O
我食咗飯。(I've eaten rice. / I ate rice.)
Negation: 冇 + V (no 咗)
我冇食飯。(I didn't eat rice.) — NOT *我冇食咗飯.
Question: 有冇 + V
你有冇食飯？(Did you eat?) — Answer: 食咗 (yes) / 冇食 (no).
Using 咗 in negation (*冇食咗). Treating it as past tense.
我食咗飯喇。
I've eaten.
咗 after verb 食 marks completion. 喇 = sentence-final 'already'.
佢走咗喇。
He/She has left.
走咗 = left (completed). 喇 reinforces the completed sense.
你買咗咩？
What did you buy?
買咗 — completed action. 咩 (what) in object position.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises