<p>了 following a 'verb' is a 'verb particle' that indicates the 'verb' as 'completed' </p>

<p>In "你去了商店买什么衣服？" (You went to the store to buy what kind of clothes)  '了' following the verb '去'(go), therefore, indicated '去' as a completed action (went/ have gone to) </p>

<p>In "你去商店买什么衣服了？" 了 is mostly treated as a final particle, therefore may not clearly indicate what action is completed</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"What clothes did you buy at the store?" </p>
</blockquote>

<p>If you want to mark the verb '买' (buy) as a completed action, you need to put the verb particle 了 after it. </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"你去商店[<strong>买了</strong>]什么衣服？" = You went to the store and [<strong>bought</strong>] what? </p>
</blockquote>

<p>You can even add a final particle 了 at the end to emphasize the sentence --  "你去商店[<strong>买了</strong>]什么衣服了？"</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-15T07:24:45.817Z
2020-06-15T07:24:45.817Z
Tang Ho
<p>I want to ask, &quot;What clothes did you buy at the store?&quot;
Which sentence is correct, or which sounds more correct.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>你去了商店买什么衣服？</p>
<p>你去商店买什么衣服了？</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Where should the 了 go?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-15T06:44:26.000Z
I found [this YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mnag_q--oU) a good introduction to 了.
Becky 李蓓
<grammar><sentence-structure><particles><past-tense>
Where should 了 go: 你去了商店买什么衣服？ or 你去商店买什么衣服了？
# Where should 了 go: 你去了商店买什么衣服？ or 你去商店买什么衣服了？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-06-15)

I want to ask, "What clothes did you buy at the store?"
Which sentence is correct, or which sounds more correct.

> 你去了商店买什么衣服？
>
> 你去商店买什么衣服了？

Where should the 了 go?

**Tags:** grammar, sentence-structure, particles, past-tense

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I found [this YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mnag_q--oU) a good introduction to 了.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-06-15. Score: 1

了 following a 'verb' is a 'verb particle' that indicates the 'verb' as 'completed'

In "你去了商店买什么衣服？" (You went to the store to buy what kind of clothes) '了' following the verb '去'(go), therefore, indicated '去' as a completed action (went/ have gone to)

In "你去商店买什么衣服了？" 了 is mostly treated as a final particle, therefore may not clearly indicate what action is completed

> "What clothes did you buy at the store?"

If you want to mark the verb '买' (buy) as a completed action, you need to put the verb particle 了 after it.

> "你去商店[**买了**]什么衣服？" = You went to the store and [**bought**] what?

You can even add a final particle 了 at the end to emphasize the sentence -- "你去商店[**买了**]什么衣服了？"


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