<p>我出发了 can be taken as the shorthand of 我要出发了. The literal translation can be: <em>I'd be leaving</em>. 了 denotes <strong>a completion state you would enter in the very near future</strong>. E.g. 我走了， I'd be in the 'gone' state in a second(or just right now), that is, <strong>I'm going</strong>. By the same token, we can translate 我出发了 as <em>I'm leaving.</em></p>

<p>In practice, people say 我走了， often accompanying with their actions: <em>stand up and walk away</em>. It means <strong>I've decided to go and I'm doing it(going)</strong>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-13T00:13:05.293Z
2019-01-13T00:25:26.860Z
2019-01-13T00:25:26.860Z
dan
<p>You are with me. You want to go. You say: 我走了。</p>

<p>You and I have an appointment in a restaurant. You are late. I call you. You say: 我已经出发了。</p>

<p>我走了。 I'm leaving.</p>

<p>我出发了。I already left. (I'm on my way to the restaurant)</p>

<p>The difference is, whether or not you are talking to a person face to face, 我走了，or you are on the phone, 我（已经）出发了。</p>

<p>出发：leaving with a specific destination in mind
走了：leaving</p>

<p>我们出发了。：Let's go.<br>
我们走吧。：Let's go, let's leave.</p>

<p>The problem arises with English. English and its predecessors maintain there is a thing called Tense. Thus, English speakers look at Chinese and want to find Tense. Language is more complicated than that.</p>

<p>My advice: do not even try to match Chinese to Western Grammar concepts.
Tha past was never perfect, forget it.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-13T17:58:31.460Z
Good advice but it's not really tense I was trying to find. It's the "completed action" aspect that I'm always told to attribute to 了 when it comes after a verb. I guess my  example was just ambiguous and contained a _different_ one of the many possible usages of 了  ...
ebrahim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-15T01:39:25.220Z
（如果）你把东西放行李箱就好了。You haven't put your things in the suitcase yet, so there is no completed action here. 这是我昨天买的东西。 ‘昨天’ tells us, this is 'completed action'.
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-13T14:28:01.613Z
2019-01-13T14:28:01.613Z
Pedroski
<p>了 means something you already done
I'm leaving is wrong
我出发了 means I (already) left
我吃了 means I (already) ate
他已经去过美国了 means he has (already) been to US</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-16T08:19:05.953Z
假如你跟朋友聚餐，你訂的菜先上了。你肚子餓死了，跟朋友說：「我等不及了！我吃了！」。按這個答案的說法，「我吃了！」意思是「我已經吃完了！」是嗎？
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-16T07:34:00.553Z
2019-01-16T07:34:00.553Z
Eruku Tsukasa
<p><em>I'm leaving</em> is rather ambiguous; going from English to Chinese, it is either</p>

<ul>
<li><em>I'm getting ready to leave</em> (我在準備出發)</li>
<li><em>I'm going to leave</em> (我出發了)</li>
<li><em>I'm in the process of leaving</em> (我正在出發, e.g. if you're waiting on a plane ready to take off)</li>
</ul>

<p>我出發了 is also ambiguous; going from Chinese to English, it is either</p>

<ul>
<li><em>I'm going to leave [now]</em> (我［現在］出發了)</li>
<li><em>I've already left</em> (我已經出發了)</li>
</ul>

<p>Context is essential; if 我出發了 is translated to <em>I'm going to leave</em>, then「了」is used as a function where it is <strong>put at the end of a sentence to declare (to a listener) the beginning of an action</strong>. In this sense, we have:</p>

<ul>
<li>我走了 (declaration: <em>I'm leaving/going [to go somewhere]</em>)</li>
<li>我（去）吃飯了 (declaration: <em>I'm going to have food</em>)</li>
<li>我（去）讀書了 (declaration: <em>I'm going to study</em>)</li>
</ul>

<p>It is mandatory to drop「去」in verbs which involve going/leaving anyway, such as「走」and「出發」. In other verbs, including「去」is optional, but it reveals the sentence structure better. You can see that in the written language, without explicitly writing「去」, it is hard to see that 我吃飯了 is a declaration of <em>I'm <strong>going</strong> to have food</em>, but in spoken language the context should be clearer.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>How would the meaning change without「了」?</strong></p>
</blockquote>

<p>It is ungrammatical to say just 我出發, like it is ungrammatical to only say in English <em>I leave</em>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-13T00:32:35.183Z
Good answer. I'd like to note both 我出发 and 'I leave' are actually grammatical. They are not meaningful without context or in most contexts, though.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-12T23:36:28.077Z
2019-01-13T00:02:14.583Z
2019-01-13T00:02:14.583Z
dROOOze
<p>Consider the sentence </p>

<pre><code>我出发了。
</code></pre>

<p>with the translation</p>

<pre><code>I'm leaving.
</code></pre>

<p>This was given to me in a list of examples demonstrating the putting 了 after a verb expresses a completed action (perfect aspect, I guess). But in this particular example the action isn't completed. <strong>So then why does 了 belong here? How would the meaning change without it?</strong></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-12T23:10:50.163Z
See https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/16048/to-%E4%BA%86-or-not-to-%E4%BA%86 (**...sentence-final particle that works as an intensifier**)
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-12T23:18:37.820Z
So would you say it's not giving perfect aspect in this situation? Instead it "intensifies" the sentence, which is translated as progressive tense in English?
ebrahim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-13T04:53:42.800Z
Possible duplicate of [Use of 了 - when is it necessary?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/9443/use-of-%e4%ba%86-when-is-it-necessary)
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-13T07:36:04.090Z
No it's not a duplicate. The answers below addressed my question perfectly, thanks.
ebrahim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-17T00:11:54.580Z
了 implies a perfective tense, it means 'already'.
Daniel Yang
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-17T00:20:37.750Z
But this is a situation in which it need not mean 'already', hence my question. The answers below clarify the situation.
ebrahim
<grammar><meaning><mandarin>
What is 了 doing in the sentence 我出发了?
# What is 了 doing in the sentence 我出发了?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-01-12)

Consider the sentence

```
我出发了。

```

with the translation

```
I'm leaving.

```

This was given to me in a list of examples demonstrating the putting 了 after a verb expresses a completed action (perfect aspect, I guess). But in this particular example the action isn't completed. **So then why does 了 belong here? How would the meaning change without it?**

**Tags:** grammar, meaning, mandarin

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: See https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/16048/to-%E4%BA%86-or-not-to-%E4%BA%86 (**...sentence-final particle that works as an intensifier**)  
> **username_0**: So would you say it's not giving perfect aspect in this situation? Instead it "intensifies" the sentence, which is translated as progressive tense in English?  
> **username_2**: Possible duplicate of [Use of 了 - when is it necessary?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/9443/use-of-%e4%ba%86-when-is-it-necessary)  
> **username_0**: No it's not a duplicate. The answers below addressed my question perfectly, thanks.  
> **username_3**: 了 implies a perfective tense, it means 'already'.  
> **username_0**: But this is a situation in which it need not mean 'already', hence my question. The answers below clarify the situation.  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-01-12. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

*I'm leaving* is rather ambiguous; going from English to Chinese, it is either

* *I'm getting ready to leave* (我在準備出發)
* *I'm going to leave* (我出發了)
* *I'm in the process of leaving* (我正在出發, e.g. if you're waiting on a plane ready to take off)

我出發了 is also ambiguous; going from Chinese to English, it is either

* *I'm going to leave [now]* (我［現在］出發了)
* *I've already left* (我已經出發了)

Context is essential; if 我出發了 is translated to *I'm going to leave*, then「了」is used as a function where it is **put at the end of a sentence to declare (to a listener) the beginning of an action**. In this sense, we have:

* 我走了 (declaration: *I'm leaving/going [to go somewhere]*)
* 我（去）吃飯了 (declaration: *I'm going to have food*)
* 我（去）讀書了 (declaration: *I'm going to study*)

It is mandatory to drop「去」in verbs which involve going/leaving anyway, such as「走」and「出發」. In other verbs, including「去」is optional, but it reveals the sentence structure better. You can see that in the written language, without explicitly writing「去」, it is hard to see that 我吃飯了 is a declaration of *I'm **going** to have food*, but in spoken language the context should be clearer.

> **How would the meaning change without「了」?**

It is ungrammatical to say just 我出發, like it is ungrammatical to only say in English *I leave*.

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: Good answer. I'd like to note both 我出发 and 'I leave' are actually grammatical. They are not meaningful without context or in most contexts, though.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-01-13. Score: 3

我出发了 can be taken as the shorthand of 我要出发了. The literal translation can be: *I'd be leaving*. 了 denotes **a completion state you would enter in the very near future**. E.g. 我走了， I'd be in the 'gone' state in a second(or just right now), that is, **I'm going**. By the same token, we can translate 我出发了 as *I'm leaving.*

In practice, people say 我走了， often accompanying with their actions: *stand up and walk away*. It means **I've decided to go and I'm doing it(going)**.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2019-01-13. Score: 2

You are with me. You want to go. You say: 我走了。

You and I have an appointment in a restaurant. You are late. I call you. You say: 我已经出发了。

我走了。 I'm leaving.

我出发了。I already left. (I'm on my way to the restaurant)

The difference is, whether or not you are talking to a person face to face, 我走了，or you are on the phone, 我（已经）出发了。

出发：leaving with a specific destination in mind
走了：leaving

我们出发了。：Let's go.  
我们走吧。：Let's go, let's leave.

The problem arises with English. English and its predecessors maintain there is a thing called Tense. Thus, English speakers look at Chinese and want to find Tense. Language is more complicated than that.

My advice: do not even try to match Chinese to Western Grammar concepts.
Tha past was never perfect, forget it.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Good advice but it's not really tense I was trying to find. It's the "completed action" aspect that I'm always told to attribute to 了 when it comes after a verb. I guess my  example was just ambiguous and contained a _different_ one of the many possible usages of 了  ...  
> **username_5**: （如果）你把东西放行李箱就好了。You haven't put your things in the suitcase yet, so there is no completed action here. 这是我昨天买的东西。 ‘昨天’ tells us, this is 'completed action'.  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2019-01-16. Score: -1

了 means something you already done
I'm leaving is wrong
我出发了 means I (already) left
我吃了 means I (already) ate
他已经去过美国了 means he has (already) been to US

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 假如你跟朋友聚餐，你訂的菜先上了。你肚子餓死了，跟朋友說：「我等不及了！我吃了！」。按這個答案的說法，「我吃了！」意思是「我已經吃完了！」是嗎？  

---

