Word
她 吃 了 药 以后， 晚上 终于 退烧 了。tā chī le yào yǐhòu, wǎnshang zhōngyú tuìshāo le.
Meaning
After taking the medicine, her fever finally went down in the evening.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of tā chī le yào yǐhòu, wǎnshang zhōngyú tuìshāo le.
她tā
she
了le
perfective particle
Used after a verb. Marks that an action is completed.
了le
change-of-state particle
Used at the end of a sentence. Marks a change of state or new situation.
Questions & Answers about tā chī le yào yǐhòu, wǎnshang zhōngyú tuìshāo le.
Why are there two 了 in this sentence?
They do different jobs.
The first 了 in 吃了药 marks the action of taking the medicine as completed.
The second 了 at the end of the sentence, in 退烧了, marks a new situation or change of state: before, she had a fever; now, the fever has gone down.
So:
- 吃了药 = she took the medicine
- 退烧了 = she has gotten better / the fever has gone down now
This is a very common pattern in Mandarin.
Why does Chinese say 吃药? Why eat medicine instead of take medicine?
In Mandarin, 吃药 is the normal way to say take medicine, especially for medicine you swallow, such as pills or liquid medicine.
Chinese often uses 吃 much more broadly than English uses eat. It can cover consuming something orally, not just food.
Some related expressions are:
- 吃药 = take medicine
- 喝药 = drink medicine, especially liquid medicine
- 打针 = get an injection
- 擦药 = apply medicine
So even though 吃 literally means eat, 吃药 is completely natural.
What exactly does 以后 mean here?