已经⋯⋯了

yǐ jīng …… le

Expressing "already" with "yijing"

已经 means "already", and it comes paired with a sentence-final 了.

已经 + Verb / Adj. + 了

How it works

他已经走了 — he's already left. The 已经 goes before the verb, the 了 closes the sentence, and the two work as a unit.

It also works with adjectives and quantities: 已经很晚了, 他已经三十岁了.

The negative is 还没…呢: 他还没走呢 — he hasn't left yet.

Examples

  • tā yǐ jīng zǒu le

    他已经走了。

    He's already left.

  • yǐ jīng hěn wǎn le

    已经很晚了。

    It's already late.

  • wǒ yǐ jīng chī guò le

    我已经吃过了。

    I've already eaten.