In the sentence “即使在教室，他们仍然保留了自由散漫的天性”, is 了 an aspect particle or a modal particle? I thought that the modal particle needed to be at the end of the sentence, but I’m not sure why it would be an aspect particle in this sentence.
1 Answer
Here, 了 is an aspect particle placed directly after the verb "保留" (maintain/retain) to indicate the completion of the action and change of tense.
- 他们仍然保留了... they neverthelessly (have) maintained/retained....
