<p>First of all, 
“吃午饭了” is usually used for "someone" to ask "someone" to have a lunch. Besides, it also can be meant that you already ate the lunch. </p>

<p>While "吃了午饭 ” just mean that you already ate the lunch. </p>

<p>Plus, there is no such thing like "吃了午饭没有“ It should be "你吃午饭了吗？” The "吗” is used for asking something.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-17T21:47:50.040Z
Sorry, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with 吃了午饭没有 IMO, it means _Did you have lunch **or not**?_.
zypA13510
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-19T08:45:38.117Z
@zypA13510 Perhaps you view it with Cantonese in mind?
pikachu0
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-21T10:09:43.730Z
@pikachu0 I'm not sure. My mother tongue is Mandarin, and I still speak Mandarin mostly, even though I know Cantonese. But the fact that I grew up in Guangdong may influence the way I think about this to some degree. So I can't say for sure.
zypA13510
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-21T10:50:22.277Z
吃了午饭没有，i think it's more for Cantonese.
Nothing
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-12-13T11:35:48.683Z
I've never learned Cantonese or lived in the South when speaking/learning Chinese, only in Peking when in China, and to me 吃了午饭没有 is perfectly correct and colloquial.
Cong Wei
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-05T01:31:13.267Z
邵敬敏 in 《现代汉语通论》 (下册 p.46) [writes](https://i.sstatic.net/19AB0w3L.jpg): 吃饭没有？ is considered standard usage, but 有没有吃饭？ is considered incorrect and is a dialect, but is becoming more common.  They're both answered 吃了 instead of 有吃.  (And I'm fairly sure it's the same for 吃了午饭没有？)
Becky 李蓓
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-24T16:34:33.010Z
2018-03-16T00:14:13.923Z
2018-03-16T00:14:13.923Z
Nothing
<p>will, I search both in Baidu(A Chinese Search Engine)</p>

<p>吃了午饭 :12,700,000 answers
吃午饭了 : 8,890,000 answers</p>

<p>But in my way , I think 吃午饭了 is the right answer.
It's not about grammar,it's about language habits.
PS:sorry for my poor english.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-24T09:12:51.983Z
2014-12-24T09:12:51.983Z
Fan Applelin
<p>I do disagree with <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/users/8113/ling-min-hao">Ling Min Hao</a> in the "correct" way to ask this question. Chinese is very flexible in the way a sentence can be constructed, especially in spoken language. In my humble opinion, all of the following expressions are "correct" and natural in spoken language:</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol>
  <li>你吃午饭了没有？</li>
  <li>你吃了午饭没有？</li>
  <li>你午饭吃了没有？</li>
  <li>你有没有吃午饭？</li>
  <li>你吃午饭了吗？</li>
  <li>你吃了午饭吗？</li>
  <li>你午饭吃了吗？</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>And what's more, I'd say putting 你 at the end of 4/5/6/7, though maybe grammatically incorrect, is common in spoken language. It causes no ambiguity whatsoever.</p>

<hr>

<p>However, if you want to answer the question, you can only answer</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我吃了午饭</p>
</blockquote>

<p>but not</p>

<pre><code>我吃午饭了
==&gt; 我（去）吃午饭了
==&gt; 我吃午饭（去）了
</code></pre>

<p>because the latter means <em>I'm going to have lunch</em>, as shown in the 2 alternative sentences. If you have to put 了 at the end, add 过 after 吃:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我吃过午饭了</p>
</blockquote>

<hr>

<p>I think <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/users/6065/user6065">user6065</a> is right in that Chinese does not have tense. But words like 了/过 does give you the sense that the action is completed, in a way similar to the past tense or past perfect tense.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-17T22:09:18.050Z
2018-03-21T10:11:59.370Z
2018-03-21T10:11:59.370Z
zypA13510
<p>I saw this sentence from a text book:</p>

<pre><code>你吃午饭了没有？
Have you had lunch yet?
</code></pre>

<p>Does the 了 have to be right after the verb 吃 though?</p>

<pre><code>你吃了午饭没有？ 
Have you had lunch yet? 
</code></pre>

<p>I learned that 了 with verb represents tense, only when 了 is with verb.
However in the sentence given the 了 is after object of 吃, which is 午饭。</p>

<p><strong>EDIT</strong></p>

<ol>
<li><p>吃（Verb) + 了 + 午饭（Noun) = Past tense, Correct.</p></li>
<li><p>吃 (Verb) + 午饭（Noun) + 了 = <strong>NOT</strong> Past tense.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I believe that the text book should've used the first one to indicate the past tense, unless the text book has some error, because it does say something like this.</p>

<pre><code>你吃午饭了没有？ ： PAST TENSE
</code></pre>

<p><strong>EDIT 2</strong></p>

<p>As I wrote some comments under, I think I should make an additional edit here again.</p>

<p>There are a lot of articles about the usage of 了 I've read many times since I started learning Chinese.</p>

<p>But I'm not really curious about what 了 works here, but whether the translation of 了 is correct or not because this one looks quite suspicious to me.</p>

<p>I believe it is NOT correct to consider it a completion of a specific action, when 了 is used at the end of the sentence.</p>

<p>I believe it is correct to consider it a completion of a specific action, when 了 is used next to the verb and only next to the verb.</p>

<p>From that understanding, I believe it is NOT correct to translate 你吃午饭了没有 into "Have you eaten lunch?" because 了 is not used next to the verb, rather at the end of the sentence.</p>

<p>Am I right about it? or is there anything I am missing? </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-23T13:22:05.920Z
both seem grammatically okay.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-23T14:48:58.377Z
corroborating preceding comment， particle 了 has ２ uses （１）denoting aspect （completion）（２）modal ：at end of statement to show emergence of new situation，change in understanding，opinion，ideas， etc。，at end of sentence to express urging， advice or reminder。 Moreover in case of aspect and modal use，了 need be used only once， i。e。 你吃了午饭了 can be shortened to 你吃午饭了。 Also note in present case at least statement（if not sentence）stops in front of 没有。 This has certainly be discussed before。
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-23T15:53:23.467Z
@S.Rhee I do not think that what I'm asking with those two examples has anything to do with your explanation about the usage of 了. Please read them carefully again. Thank you.
Dean Seo
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-23T18:11:23.353Z
as any grammar will say，了 does not represent tense， as aspectual particle it represents completion （of an action in the past or the completion of an action in the future），tense is implied by context （at least by 没有 in this case）。In 你吃午饭了 了 is at the end of a statement，so that it has to be considered as modal particle， however double use of 了 as in 你吃了午饭了，indicating both completion and modal meaning （change etc。）can be abbreviated to 你吃午饭了。
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-24T01:21:29.800Z
了 does not represent tense,  Any competent textbook will tell you Chinese does not use tense, though too many immediately say 了 represents past tense.  They were right the first time, and wrong the second.  Chinese does not use tense.  YayCplusplus, you should read S. Rhee carefully.
Colin McLarty
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-24T04:27:58.793Z
Well, you are right. Chinese does not use tense. 了 does not represent tense either, although the sentence "你吃了午饭没有?" indicates completion of an action, and technically at this specific case does mean "past" (not present, not future). To make as simple as possible what I don't understand certainly, "Do the two sentences that I wrote in the example mean the same thing?" because it's just a really simple question, nothing serious but more like I just found a weird thing from the text book and make sure it's a typo. I wish I could just post the whole page here. That would make things much simpler.
Dean Seo
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-24T04:37:16.850Z
I'm sure this page from the book has some mixed examples in a kind of wrong way. I posted this question by making up some examples to be sure I'm right, unfortunately only to make it rather difficult to get the point out of it...
Dean Seo
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-24T04:55:36.777Z
Well I read S.Rhee over and over carefully, and I think I understood .. finally. So "abbreviated" .. right? I really appreciate @S.Rhee and Colin McLarty as well. Please write a short answer for me so I can press the check buttn of yours. Thank you!
Dean Seo
<grammar>
吃午饭了, should 了 be right after 吃？
# 吃午饭了, should 了 be right after 吃？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-12-23)

I saw this sentence from a text book:

```
你吃午饭了没有？
Have you had lunch yet?

```

Does the 了 have to be right after the verb 吃 though?

```
你吃了午饭没有？ 
Have you had lunch yet? 

```

I learned that 了 with verb represents tense, only when 了 is with verb.
However in the sentence given the 了 is after object of 吃, which is 午饭。

**EDIT**

1. 吃（Verb) + 了 + 午饭（Noun) = Past tense, Correct.
2. 吃 (Verb) + 午饭（Noun) + 了 = **NOT** Past tense.

I believe that the text book should've used the first one to indicate the past tense, unless the text book has some error, because it does say something like this.

```
你吃午饭了没有？ ： PAST TENSE

```

**EDIT 2**

As I wrote some comments under, I think I should make an additional edit here again.

There are a lot of articles about the usage of 了 I've read many times since I started learning Chinese.

But I'm not really curious about what 了 works here, but whether the translation of 了 is correct or not because this one looks quite suspicious to me.

I believe it is NOT correct to consider it a completion of a specific action, when 了 is used at the end of the sentence.

I believe it is correct to consider it a completion of a specific action, when 了 is used next to the verb and only next to the verb.

From that understanding, I believe it is NOT correct to translate 你吃午饭了没有 into "Have you eaten lunch?" because 了 is not used next to the verb, rather at the end of the sentence.

Am I right about it? or is there anything I am missing?

**Tags:** grammar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: both seem grammatically okay.  
> **username_2**: corroborating preceding comment， particle 了 has ２ uses （１）denoting aspect （completion）（２）modal ：at end of statement to show emergence of new situation，change in understanding，opinion，ideas， etc。，at end of sentence to express urging， advice or reminder。 Moreover in case of aspect and modal use，了 need be used only once， i。e。 你吃了午饭了 can be shortened to 你吃午饭了。 Also note in present case at least statement（if not sentence）stops in front of 没有。 This has certainly be discussed before。  
> **username_0**: @S.Rhee I do not think that what I'm asking with those two examples has anything to do with your explanation about the usage of 了. Please read them carefully again. Thank you.  
> **username_2**: as any grammar will say，了 does not represent tense， as aspectual particle it represents completion （of an action in the past or the completion of an action in the future），tense is implied by context （at least by 没有 in this case）。In 你吃午饭了 了 is at the end of a statement，so that it has to be considered as modal particle， however double use of 了 as in 你吃了午饭了，indicating both completion and modal meaning （change etc。）can be abbreviated to 你吃午饭了。  
> **username_3**: 了 does not represent tense,  Any competent textbook will tell you Chinese does not use tense, though too many immediately say 了 represents past tense.  They were right the first time, and wrong the second.  Chinese does not use tense.  YayCplusplus, you should read S. Rhee carefully.  
> **username_0**: Well, you are right. Chinese does not use tense. 了 does not represent tense either, although the sentence "你吃了午饭没有?" indicates completion of an action, and technically at this specific case does mean "past" (not present, not future). To make as simple as possible what I don't understand certainly, "Do the two sentences that I wrote in the example mean the same thing?" because it's just a really simple question, username_4 serious but more like I just found a weird thing from the text book and make sure it's a typo. I wish I could just post the whole page here. That would make things much simpler.  
> **username_0**: I'm sure this page from the book has some mixed examples in a kind of wrong way. I posted this question by making up some examples to be sure I'm right, unfortunately only to make it rather difficult to get the point out of it...  
> **username_0**: Well I read S.Rhee over and over carefully, and I think I understood .. finally. So "abbreviated" .. right? I really appreciate @S.Rhee and username_3 username_3 as well. Please write a short answer for me so I can press the check buttn of yours. Thank you!  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2014-12-24. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

First of all,
“吃午饭了” is usually used for "someone" to ask "someone" to have a lunch. Besides, it also can be meant that you already ate the lunch.

While "吃了午饭 ” just mean that you already ate the lunch.

Plus, there is no such thing like "吃了午饭没有“ It should be "你吃午饭了吗？” The "吗” is used for asking something.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: Sorry, but there is absolutely username_4 wrong with 吃了午饭没有 IMO, it means _Did you have lunch **or not**?_.  
> **username_6**: @username_5 Perhaps you view it with Cantonese in mind?  
> **username_5**: @username_6 I'm not sure. My mother tongue is Mandarin, and I still speak Mandarin mostly, even though I know Cantonese. But the fact that I grew up in Guangdong may influence the way I think about this to some degree. So I can't say for sure.  
> **username_4**: 吃了午饭没有，i think it's more for Cantonese.  
> **username_7**: I've never learned Cantonese or lived in the South when speaking/learning Chinese, only in Peking when in China, and to me 吃了午饭没有 is perfectly correct and colloquial.  
> **username_8**: 邵敬敏 in 《现代汉语通论》 (下册 p.46) [writes](https://i.sstatic.net/19AB0w3L.jpg): 吃饭没有？ is considered standard usage, but 有没有吃饭？ is considered incorrect and is a dialect, but is becoming more common.  They're both answered 吃了 instead of 有吃.  (And I'm fairly sure it's the same for 吃了午饭没有？)  

---

### Answer by username_9 on 2014-12-24. Score: 3

will, I search both in Baidu(A Chinese Search Engine)

吃了午饭 :12,700,000 answers
吃午饭了 : 8,890,000 answers

But in my way , I think 吃午饭了 is the right answer.
It's not about grammar,it's about language habits.
PS:sorry for my poor english.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2018-03-17. Score: 2

I do disagree with [Ling Min Hao](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/users/8113/ling-min-hao) in the "correct" way to ask this question. Chinese is very flexible in the way a sentence can be constructed, especially in spoken language. In my humble opinion, all of the following expressions are "correct" and natural in spoken language:

> 1. 你吃午饭了没有？
> 2. 你吃了午饭没有？
> 3. 你午饭吃了没有？
> 4. 你有没有吃午饭？
> 5. 你吃午饭了吗？
> 6. 你吃了午饭吗？
> 7. 你午饭吃了吗？

And what's more, I'd say putting 你 at the end of 4/5/6/7, though maybe grammatically incorrect, is common in spoken language. It causes no ambiguity whatsoever.

---

However, if you want to answer the question, you can only answer

> 我吃了午饭

but not

```
我吃午饭了
==> 我（去）吃午饭了
==> 我吃午饭（去）了

```

because the latter means *I'm going to have lunch*, as shown in the 2 alternative sentences. If you have to put 了 at the end, add 过 after 吃:

> 我吃过午饭了

---

I think [username_2](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/users/6065/username_2) is right in that Chinese does not have tense. But words like 了/过 does give you the sense that the action is completed, in a way similar to the past tense or past perfect tense.


---

