Breakdown of tā shēngbìng le liǎng tiān, xiànzài shēntǐ bǐ yǐqián hǎo duō le.
好hǎo
good
她tā
she
现在xiànzài
now
了le
perfective particle
Questions & Answers about tā shēngbìng le liǎng tiān, xiànzài shēntǐ bǐ yǐqián hǎo duō le.
Why are there two 了 in this sentence, and what does each one do?
They are two different 了’s:
- The 了 after 生病 in 她生病了两天 is the perfective/aspect 了. It marks a completed event and lets you attach a duration: “was sick for two days (and that episode is over).”
- The 了 at the end of 好多了 is the sentence‑final/change‑of‑state 了. It signals a new situation now: “is much better now.”
Both can appear in one sentence because they do different jobs: one closes off the past event; the other points out the new current state.
What’s the difference between 生病了两天 and 生病两天了?
- 生病了两天 = “was sick for two days.” It presents the sickness as a completed episode.
- 生病两天了 = “has been sick for two days (up to now).” It suggests the sickness is/was ongoing up to the reference time. In your sentence, the first one fits because the next clause says she’s much better now.
Is 生病 a separable verb? Can I also say 生了两天病 or 病了两天?
Yes. 生病 is a separable verb (离合词). Common variants:
- 她生病了两天 (very common in modern usage)
- 她生了两天病 (shows the separation explicitly; perfectly fine)
- 她病了两天 (also very natural and colloquial) All three are acceptable here and mean the same thing.
Why is it 两天 and not 二天?