Breakdown of yīshēng shuō wǒ chī le yào yǐhòu yào duō xiūxi.
我wǒ
I
了le
perfective particle
Used after a verb. Marks that an action is completed.
说shuō
to say
Questions & Answers about yīshēng shuō wǒ chī le yào yǐhòu yào duō xiūxi.
Why is the sentence order 医生 说 我 吃了药以后 要多休息 instead of something more like English word order?
Chinese often puts the topic or setting first, then the main action.
So this sentence is structured like:
- 医生说 = the doctor said
- 我吃了药以后 = after I take/took the medicine
- 要多休息 = need to rest more
A natural way to think of it is:
- The doctor said [that] after I take the medicine, I need to rest more.
Chinese does not need a word like that here. The clause after 说 simply gives the content of what was said.
Does 说 here mean said or told?
In this sentence, 说 most literally means said, but in natural English the whole sentence may be translated as The doctor told me... depending on context.
Chinese 说 by itself does not explicitly include an object like me. It just introduces speech.
So:
- 医生说... = The doctor said...
- 医生跟我说... / 医生对我说... = The doctor said to me... / told me...
In your sentence, 我 belongs to the content of what was said, not to 说.
Why is there a 了 after 吃?