Learn Hardcore Chinese: Lǎobǎn xiàozhe zǒuchū huìyìshì, shuō jīntiān de huìyì jiéshù le. - The boss walked out of the meeting room smiling and said that today’s meeting was over.

Here 笑 is a background/accompanying action, and 走出 is the main action. 着 tells us the smiling is continuous during the walking, not just a quick smile before or after.

Can I say 老板走出会议室笑着 instead? Is the word order flexible?

In modern Mandarin, the natural structure is:

老板笑着走出会议室。

Putting 笑着 after the main verb like:

✗ 老板走出会议室笑着。

is not idiomatic.

General rule for this pattern:

[Subject] + [background/secondary action + 着] + [main action]

So:

笑着走出 is good.
走出笑着 sounds wrong.

If you want 笑 to come after 走出, you need a different structure, for example:

老板走出会议室的时候，笑了。
“When the boss walked out of the meeting room, he smiled.”
老板走出会议室，笑着说……
“The boss walked out of the meeting room and, smiling, said…”

What kind of verb is 走出? Is it one word or two words? Why not just 出?

走出 (zǒuchū) is a verb + directional complement:

走 = to walk
出 = out(ward), out of

Together they form a compound verb: “to walk out (of somewhere)”.

Structure:

走出 + place = “walk out of [place]”
- 走出会议室 = walk out of the meeting room

You cannot just say ✗ 出会议室 because 出 by itself is not normally used alone as the main verb in this way. It needs a main verb (like 走, 走出去, 跑出去, 走出来, etc.) or a more complex structure.

Why is there no 从 (cóng), like 走出从会议室?

You do not combine 走出 and 从 in that way. You have two main patterns:

走出 + place
- 走出会议室 = walk out of the meeting room
从 + place + 走出去
- 从会议室走出去 = (starting) from the meeting room, walk out

If you say ✗ 走出从会议室, you’re doubling the “from/out of” idea and the word order is wrong. You should pick one of the correct patterns:

老板笑着走出会议室。
老板笑着从会议室走出去。

What is the function of 的 in 今天的会议?

的 (de) links a modifier to a noun. The structure is:

[modifier] + 的 + [noun]

So:

今天的会议
- 今天 = today
- 的 = linking particle
- 会议 = meeting

= “today’s meeting” / “the meeting (that is) today”.

Here 今天的 functions like an adjective phrase modifying 会议.

Could we just say 今天会议 instead of 今天的会议?

You sometimes see 今天会议, especially in headlines or very concise written language, but:

In everyday speech, 今天的会议 is more natural.
Without 的, 今天会议 can sound a bit like shorthand or “note style”.

So:

今天的会议结束了。 – normal, natural
今天会议结束了。 – acceptable in certain contexts (e.g. agenda, notes, headlines), but less typical as a full spoken sentence.

For a learner, it’s safer and more natural to use 今天的会议 in normal sentences.

Why is there a comma before 说, and how does 说 work in this sentence?

The comma marks a short pause and separates two actions:

老板笑着走出会议室，
“The boss walked out of the meeting room smiling,”
说今天的会议结束了。
“and said that today’s meeting is over.”

说 here introduces the content of what he said. In Chinese, this content usually comes after 说, without needing the word “that”:

说 + [clause]
- 说今天的会议结束了。
  = “(He) said that today’s meeting is over.”

This is reported/direct content, but Chinese often doesn’t use quotation marks or a word like “that” unless we want to emphasize direct speech with quotes:

……，说：“今天的会议结束了。”

Is 说今天的会议结束了 direct speech or reported speech?

Grammatically, Chinese does not strongly distinguish those two in the same way English does.

说今天的会议结束了。 can be interpreted as:
- “said, ‘Today’s meeting is over.’” (direct speech), or
- “said that today’s meeting was over.” (reported speech).

Unless punctuation or context makes it explicit (like actual quotation marks), the same structure can serve both functions. Chinese cares less about that distinction than English does.

Why is there 了 at the end of 结束了? What does 了 add?

Here, 了 (le) is a sentence-final change-of-state marker.

结束 = to end / to be over (verb)
结束了 = “has ended / is now over” (a new state has been reached)

会议结束了 means:

The meeting was not ended before, but now it is ended.

Without 了, 会议结束 sounds like:

a general statement (“the meeting ends (at some time)”)
or a more formal written announcement (“the meeting ends” as a title/slogan).

In most natural speech to announce that something has just finished, you use 了:

今天的会议结束了。 = “Today’s meeting is over (now).”

What’s the difference between 会议结束了 and 会议已经结束了?

Both mean “the meeting has ended”, but:

会议结束了。
- Neutral announcement: the meeting is (now) over.
会议已经结束了。
- 已经 (yǐjīng) = already
- Emphasizes “already”, often contrasting with someone’s expectation:
  - e.g. Someone shows up late → 会议已经结束了。 “The meeting has already finished.”

So 已经 adds an “already / by now” nuance.

Could we say 今天的会议完了 instead of 结束了? Is there any difference?

You can say:

今天的会议完了。

It is understandable and colloquial, but there are nuances:

结束 (jiéshù):
- more formal / neutral
- commonly used in official or written contexts:
  - 会议结束，比赛结束，演出结束
完 (wán):
- more informal / colloquial
- often used with verbs:
  - 吃完了 (finished eating), 写完了 (finished writing)
- 会议完了 is casual speech, fine in everyday conversation, less formal-sounding than 会议结束了.

In a sentence like this (someone making a semi-formal announcement), 结束了 sounds especially natural.

How do we know this sentence is in the past if there is no past tense in Chinese?

Chinese does not use verb tenses like English (past/present/future). Instead, it uses:

Aspect markers (like 了, 着, 过),
Time words (like 今天 “today”, 昨天 “yesterday”),
and context.

In this sentence:

走出: the boss walked out – this describes a completed movement.
结束了: 了 shows a new state has been reached (the meeting is now over).
The whole description feels like something that has just happened.

So even without a “past tense” form, we naturally interpret it as past (or just-just-now) from these clues.

Why do we use 老板 here and not 他 or 我的老板?

In Chinese, it is very common to refer to people by:

their role (老板, 老师, 医生),
their title (王总, 李经理),
or their relationship (妈妈, 哥哥),

instead of using 他 / 她 all the time.

So:

老板 here means “the boss / our boss / the company boss”, depending on context.
You don’t need 我的 if the context is clear that we’re talking about “our” or “the” boss.

Possible variations:

老板笑着走出会议室…… – very natural.
他笑着走出会议室…… – also correct, but less specific; you’d use it when “he” is already clear.
我的老板笑着走出会议室…… – explicitly “my boss”; you’d say this if you’re stressing it’s your own boss.

Using 老板 here emphasizes his role, which is common in workplace narratives.

Can we replace 笑着 with 在笑 or 一边笑一边走出? What’s the difference?

You can, but the nuance changes slightly.

笑着走出会议室
- Compact, natural.
- Background, continuous action during the main action.
- “Walked out of the meeting room smiling.”
在笑着 – usually avoid this combination here.
- 在 and 着 both mark continuity; 在笑着 is redundant and unnatural.
- You would normally choose either 在笑 or 笑着, not both.
一边笑一边走出会议室
- Emphasizes “doing two things at the same time”.
- Slightly more explicit/marked simultaneous structure.
- Could feel more descriptive or literary: “laughing and walking out of the meeting room at the same time.”

In this kind of sentence, 笑着走出会议室 is the most natural, concise choice.

What is the role of 今天 here? Could it be moved, like 老板今天笑着走出会议室，说会议结束了?

In the original:

今天的会议结束了。
- 今天的 modifies 会议:
  - “today’s meeting has ended.”

If you move 今天:

老板今天笑着走出会议室，说会议结束了。
- Now 今天 modifies the time of the boss’s action, not the meeting.
- Meaning: “Today, the boss walked out of the meeting room smiling and said, ‘The meeting is over.’”
- It does not explicitly say “today’s meeting”; just “the meeting” (which we assume is the one happening today).

Both are grammatical but slightly different in focus:

今天的会议结束了。
- Focus: which meeting ended (the one today).
老板今天笑着走出会议室，说会议结束了。
- Focus: when the boss did these actions (today).

In the original, the speaker wants to specify today’s meeting in particular, so 今天的会议 is the most precise.