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What among these sentences are correct, acceptable, or wrong? The marks in the parentheses are my intuition.

(1)我看這本小說了。(?)

(2)我看了這本小說。(✓)

(3)我看這本小說過。(✘)

(4)我看過這本小說。(✓)

(5)我看了這本小說過。(✘)

(6)我看過這本小說了。(✓)

(7)我有看這本小說了。(✘)

(8)我有看了這本小說。(✘)

(9)我有看這本小說過。(✘)

(10)我有看過這本小說。(✓)

(11)我有看了這本小說過。(✘)

(12)我有看過這本小說了。(✘)


(1) does seem weird to me, but I am not certain. (2) and (4) shows that 過 and 了 can both mark the completeness of action only if they appear immediately after the verb, while 了 can appear in the very end of sentence. Such construction even works in (6) "過...了". (10) seems to suggest "有...過" is the only correct pattern for stressing the sentence.

But why? I am native speaker from Taiwan, but I would like to know whether you share the same intuition with me, and the underlying principles. (I would most appreciate your answer if you can provide some reference!)

2
  • see grammar e.g. "实用现代汉语语法"regarding 动态助词,aspect particles: 了,着,过, end of sentence 了 is a 语气助词,modal particle, 了,过 as aspect particles follow verbs,thus 3,5,9,11 are invalid, 有看 seems questionable ((have seen?) see discussions of validity and possible meaning of such forms elsewhere) , for end-of-sentence 了 may also search site for previous discussions
    – user6065
    Sep 9, 2017 at 20:42
  • 我看這本小說了 is right pattern in oracle Chinese, generally it means 我马上就要去看這本小說了 (going to read). Sep 13, 2017 at 10:20

2 Answers 2

1

I also agree with you for most of them, and I'd like to point out:

  • (1) is grammatically correct, despite sounding strange. It's sometimes heard in spoken language, but mostly because the speaker says it in a hurry.

  • (7)-(12) seems old-fashioned. People don't speak like those that often, but still there is:

    — 有誰看過這本小說? (Has anyone read ...)
    — 我有看過。 (I have.)

    (10) is right, and as you have said, it's used to stress/emphasize the action having been done.

  • (12) is wrong. We don't use more than one word about perfect tense in an emphasizing context.

1

I agree with you for most of them. I have some comments below:

(1) would sound more natural when adding a '过'. 我看过这本小说了。which is the same as (6).

(7), I did hear it was said by the folks from Taiwan.

(12) sounds ok to me.

Just one observation of mine. In the register of the mainland, we don't usually use 有 in this kind of sentences because it's kinda redundant. Like (10), 我有看过这本小说。== 我看过这本小说。 I've heard Taiwan folks typically used 有 in this kind of sentences.

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  • (12) sounds ok but not really.
    – iBug
    Sep 10, 2017 at 2:02
  • I just said 'ok', of course it's not a good one. In fact, I heard it was said by some of my colleagues from Taiwan.
    – dan
    Sep 10, 2017 at 2:08

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