<p>在了 is very common, even colloquially, but it'd be better to see it as separate 在 and 了.</p>
<p>The usage of 了 and its position in a sentence is complex. In the example sentence</p>
<blockquote>
<p>手机忘在了出租车上,</p>
</blockquote>
<ol>
<li>忘 here can be understood as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labile_verb" rel="nofollow noreferrer">labile verb</a> (perhaps?), meaning &quot;be forgotten&quot;.</li>
<li>在 is a <strong>结果补语 (complement of result)</strong>.  Accroding to 刘月华(Liu Yuehua) et al.'s 《实用现代汉语语法》(<em>Practical Modern Chinese Grammar</em>, I'll refer to it as Gr from now on), the function of 在 is to &quot;表示通过动作使人或事物处于某个处所，后边一定要有处所宾语&quot; (convey the idea that something or someone is placed in some position via an action, and must be followed by an object of location).</li>
<li>出租车上 is the <strong>处所宾语 (object of location)</strong> of 在. The object 出租车, or taxi, usually can't convey the idea of location on its own, but can do so when compounded with the adverb of position 上.</li>
<li>了 is a <strong>动态助词 (aspect particle)</strong>.  According to Gr, it's a bit complex; for a verb like 忘 in the sense of &quot;to leave something at some place&quot;, 了 means the action has happened and has ended.</li>
</ol>
<p>I think your problem here can boil down to <em>where should the article 了 be in this sentence?</em></p>
<p>According to Gr, &quot;如果谓语动词后有结果补语，“了”位于结果补语后：动词＋结果补语＋“了”＋宾语&quot; (<strong>if there is a complement of result after the verb, then 了 is placed after the complement of result: verb + complement of result + 了 particle + object</strong>). So,</p>
<p>手机(Subject)忘(Verb)在(Complement)了(Particle)出租车上(Object)。</p>
<p>This rule can explain the first four sentences you provided. I think the fifth one is the same, but I'm unsure for now.</p>
<p>Also, please note that in every sentence you provided, 了 can be placed at the very end. This kind of 了 is called a 语气助词 (Modal particle), and the meanings of some sentences will change when you move 了 to the end, and some will not change very much. However, this is a much more complex grammar mischief of Chinese and I don't consider myself capable of talking about it.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>

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2021-01-11T14:56:50.477Z
2021-01-12T01:30:43.843Z
2021-01-12T01:30:43.843Z
aperhapshand
<p>在... is prep phrase working as a compliment. E.g. 放[在门口]了.  了 is for completion.  放在了门口 is a variant of 放在门口了.  I think it might be because we say 放在 so often that we take it as a verb as a whole.  So both 放在哪里了 and 放在了哪里 are correct.</p>
<p>So, 手机忘在了出租车上 = 手机忘在出租车上了. 小男孩被父亲故意丢在了超市 =小男孩被父亲故意丢在超市了. etc.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-10T13:07:56.177Z
2021-01-10T13:07:56.177Z
dan
<p>From random Internet sites, we can see many examples of the grammar structures:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[verb] + 在了</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>手机<strong>忘在了</strong>出租车上。<br />
我<strong>站在了</strong>舞台上。<br />
因为人不在，快递员就<strong>放在了</strong>门口。<br />
小男孩被父亲故意<strong>丢在了</strong>超市。<br />
闺蜜和男友<strong>睡在了</strong>一起。<br />
<sub>(Google the quotes surrounded by quotation marks to see the source(s).)</sub></p>
</blockquote>
<p>I think I get the gist from these examples.  It looks like adding 在 modifies a verb, e.g., 忘 = &quot;to forget&quot; turns into 忘在 = &quot;to forget at&quot;.  The 了 is the <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_completion_with_%22le%22" rel="noreferrer">completion 了</a>, added after the modified verb 忘在了 (so we don't write 忘了在 [or do we?]).  在了 doesn't seem to be used in the same way without a preceding verb (but we can say 不在了 or 没在了 to mean &quot;not here&quot;, sometimes as a euphemism for being dead).</p>
<p>However, there may be a better way to understand this.  I'm wondering if there is a more rigorous treatment available.  I didn't find a reference from Google, not at the Chinese Grammar Wiki.</p>
<p><strong>Question</strong>: How does one understand the [verb] + 在了 grammar structure?</p>

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2021-01-10T06:01:56.113Z
1.手机忘在了出租车上  2.手机忘了在出租车上  3. 手机忘在出租车上了 -- (2) and (3) seem more common than (1) which I rarely hear people say
Tang Ho
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2021-01-10T08:44:21.147Z
I remember being thrown off by this one when I encountered it the first time(s) too. It is quite common, though, so let's hope someone writes a good answer, because I want to know as well (I just accepted that it's sometimes written like that (rarely spoken, I think) and moved on).
Olle Linge
<grammar>
How does one understand the [verb] + 在了 grammar structure?
# How does one understand the [verb] + 在了 grammar structure?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-01-10)

From random Internet sites, we can see many examples of the grammar structures:

> [verb] + 在了

> 手机**忘在了**出租车上。  
> 我**站在了**舞台上。  
> 因为人不在，快递员就**放在了**门口。  
> 小男孩被父亲故意**丢在了**超市。  
> 闺蜜和男友**睡在了**一起。  
> (Google the quotes surrounded by quotation marks to see the source(s).)

I think I get the gist from these examples. It looks like adding 在 modifies a verb, e.g., 忘 = "to forget" turns into 忘在 = "to forget at". The 了 is the [completion 了](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_completion_with_%22le%22), added after the modified verb 忘在了 (so we don't write 忘了在 [or do we?]). 在了 doesn't seem to be used in the same way without a preceding verb (but we can say 不在了 or 没在了 to mean "not here", sometimes as a euphemism for being dead).

However, there may be a better way to understand this. I'm wondering if there is a more rigorous treatment available. I didn't find a reference from Google, not at the Chinese Grammar Wiki.

**Question**: How does one understand the [verb] + 在了 grammar structure?

**Tags:** grammar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 1.手机忘在了出租车上  2.手机忘了在出租车上  3. 手机忘在出租车上了 -- (2) and (3) seem more common than (1) which I rarely hear people say  
> **username_2**: I remember being thrown off by this one when I encountered it the first time(s) too. It is quite common, though, so let's hope someone writes a good answer, because I want to know as well (I just accepted that it's sometimes written like that (rarely spoken, I think) and moved on).  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2021-01-11. Score: 1

在了 is very common, even colloquially, but it'd be better to see it as separate 在 and 了.

The usage of 了 and its position in a sentence is complex. In the example sentence

> 手机忘在了出租车上,

1. 忘 here can be understood as a [labile verb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labile_verb) (perhaps?), meaning "be forgotten".
2. 在 is a **结果补语 (complement of result)**. Accroding to 刘月华(Liu Yuehua) et al.'s 《实用现代汉语语法》(*Practical Modern Chinese Grammar*, I'll refer to it as Gr from now on), the function of 在 is to "表示通过动作使人或事物处于某个处所，后边一定要有处所宾语" (convey the idea that something or someone is placed in some position via an action, and must be followed by an object of location).
3. 出租车上 is the **处所宾语 (object of location)** of 在. The object 出租车, or taxi, usually can't convey the idea of location on its own, but can do so when compounded with the adverb of position 上.
4. 了 is a **动态助词 (aspect particle)**. According to Gr, it's a bit complex; for a verb like 忘 in the sense of "to leave something at some place", 了 means the action has happened and has ended.

I think your problem here can boil down to *where should the article 了 be in this sentence?*

According to Gr, "如果谓语动词后有结果补语，“了”位于结果补语后：动词＋结果补语＋“了”＋宾语" (**if there is a complement of result after the verb, then 了 is placed after the complement of result: verb + complement of result + 了 particle + object**). So,

手机(Subject)忘(Verb)在(Complement)了(Particle)出租车上(Object)。

This rule can explain the first four sentences you provided. I think the fifth one is the same, but I'm unsure for now.

Also, please note that in every sentence you provided, 了 can be placed at the very end. This kind of 了 is called a 语气助词 (Modal particle), and the meanings of some sentences will change when you move 了 to the end, and some will not change very much. However, this is a much more complex grammar mischief of Chinese and I don't consider myself capable of talking about it.

Hope this helps.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2021-01-10. Score: 0

在... is prep phrase working as a compliment. E.g. 放[在门口]了. 了 is for completion. 放在了门口 is a variant of 放在门口了. I think it might be because we say 放在 so often that we take it as a verb as a whole. So both 放在哪里了 and 放在了哪里 are correct.

So, 手机忘在了出租车上 = 手机忘在出租车上了. 小男孩被父亲故意丢在了超市 =小男孩被父亲故意丢在超市了. etc.


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