péngyou shuōhǎole jīnwǎn mǎidān.

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Breakdown of péngyou shuōhǎole jīnwǎn mǎidān.

• 说好了shuōhǎole: it is settled
• 今晚jīnwǎn: tonight

Questions & Answers about péngyou shuōhǎole jīnwǎn mǎidān.

What does 说好了 mean here? It doesn’t seem to mean spoke well.

In this sentence, 说好了 means to have agreed on something or to have settled something by talking.

It is a very common pattern:

• 说 = to say / to talk
• 好 = good, but after a verb it often works as a result complement
• 了 = marks that the action has been completed

So 说好了 means something like:

• have talked it over and settled it
• have agreed
• have made an arrangement

It does not mean literally spoke well here.

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Why is 好 used after 说 in 说好了?

Here 好 is a result complement. After a verb, 好 often shows that something has been successfully completed or properly arranged.

Compare:

• 想好了 = have thought it through / have decided
• 准备好了 = have gotten ready
• 安排好了 = have arranged it
• 说好了 = have talked it over and agreed

So in 说好了, 好 shows that the discussion reached a satisfactory result.

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What exactly does the 了 in 说好了 do?