<p>Totally agree with Dan's answer. </p>

<p>To answer your edited question: <code>Why is 你去了北京吗 less common than 你去北京了吗?</code></p>

<p>It's Baidu's algorithm problem - probably wrong. If you search the same on Google, the results are pretty similar. ;) </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-31T02:19:04.593Z
Ah thanks.  Google's blocked here.
Becky 李蓓
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-31T02:21:27.307Z
If you look at the search result on Baidu, 你去北京了吗 include result for every combination of the words, while 你去了北京吗 is just for the phrase. It's not consistent - and doesn't make sense why they treat both searches differently
sylvia
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-31T02:18:30.000Z
2019-10-31T02:18:30.000Z
sylvia
<p>A.你去了北京嗎？
B.你去北京了嗎？</p>

<p>me:I want to go Beijin this summer
Next year
friend:Hey, B.你去北京了嗎？
  (hey, you tell me you want to go last summer, did you do that?)</p>

<p>me:I never been to Beijin, B.你去(過)北京了嗎？
  (I never been there before, did you?)</p>

<p>me:I just come back from Beijin, it's beautiful place.
friend:oh, A.你去了北京嗎？
  (oh, you did that yesterday?)</p>

<p>they feel a little bit different, but after all, A:你去了北京嗎？B:你去北京了嗎？
is the same, all these example can can swap A and B</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-31T03:28:30.180Z
2019-10-31T03:28:30.180Z
name
<p>Both 你去了北京吗 and 你去北京了吗 are possible in practice, but they are used in different situations. </p>

<p>你去了北京吗 is used when you try to <strong>confirm</strong> the fact that someone really went to Beijing. Let's say you have two friends, Friend A and B. A told you that B has gone to Beijing last week. However, this information surprised you because you didn't expect B would go to Beijing for some reason. So, you might check with B with the question 你去了北京吗. The purpose is to confirm what A had said. </p>

<p>你去北京了吗 is used when you know someone has a plan to go to Beijing, but you don't know whether he has already been to or not. So you might ask him 你去北京了吗 to check if he has already been to Beijing. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-06T20:56:37.107Z
Nice answer. What about 你去了北京了吗？How different from 你去北京了吗 would it be?
Enrico Brasil
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-06T22:36:46.353Z
@EnricoBrasil 你去了北京了吗？ sounds redundant. You could omit either 了.
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-31T01:48:44.017Z
2019-10-31T01:48:44.017Z
dan
<p><em>Note</em>: My original question was <em>Why is 你去了北京 correct but 你去了北京吗 incorrect?</em> but I was mistaken, so I'll change the question to try to make it more useful (and less confusing) to the future reader.  I'll edit so as to ensure the current answer remains relevant.</p>
<p>There seems to be an important difference between these (<a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_completion_with_%22le%22" rel="nofollow noreferrer">completion 了</a> vs. <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Change_of_state_with_%22le%22" rel="nofollow noreferrer">change-of-state 了</a>):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>你去<strong>了</strong>北京吗？<br />
You went to Beijing?</p>
<p>你去北京<strong>了</strong>吗？<br />
You went to Beijing?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I had thought it wasn't much of a difference, but the distinction seems very consistent:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%E2%80%9D%E5%8E%BB%E4%BA%86%E5%8C%97%E4%BA%AC%E5%90%97%E2%80%9C" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>”去了北京吗“</code></a> (6 hits) <a href="https://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%E2%80%9D%E5%8E%BB%E5%8C%97%E4%BA%AC%E4%BA%86%E5%90%97%E2%80%9C" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>”去北京了吗“</code></a> (82,100,000 hits)  [actually, judging from later pages, these counts are incorrect and possibly misleading]</li>
<li><a href="https://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%E2%80%9D%E5%81%9A%E4%BA%86%E4%BD%9C%E4%B8%9A%E5%90%97%E2%80%9C" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>”做了作业吗“</code></a> (7 hits) <a href="https://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%E2%80%9D%E5%81%9A%E4%BD%9C%E4%B8%9A%E4%BA%86%E5%90%97%E2%80%9C" rel="nofollow noreferrer">”做作业了吗“</a> (6,660 hits)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%E2%80%9D%E5%90%83%E4%BA%86%E5%8D%88%E9%A5%AD%E5%90%97%E2%80%9C" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>”吃了午饭吗“</code></a> (7 hits) <a href="https://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%E2%80%9D%E5%90%83%E5%8D%88%E9%A5%AD%E4%BA%86%E5%90%97%E2%80%9C" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>”吃午饭了吗“</code></a> (1,270,000 hits)</li>
<li>Searching for <code>了 吗</code> at <a href="http://www.jukuu.com/show-%E4%BA%86%E5%90%97-0.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Jukuu</a> gives 10 pages of sentences ending ...了吗？ and the only examples with 了 after the verb also end in ...了吗 e.g. 他们确定<strong>了</strong>会议的日子<strong>了吗</strong>？.</li>
<li>Searching for <code>了 吗</code> at <a href="http://youdao.com/example/blng/%E4%BA%86_%E5%90%97" rel="nofollow noreferrer">YouDao</a> is the same with the exception 你知道我看见<strong>了</strong>什么<strong>吗</strong>？</li>
<li>The top answer to <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/10837/8099">吃午饭了, should 了 be right after 吃？</a> states 吃了午饭 cannot be turned into a question.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Question</strong>: Why is 你去了北京吗 less common than 你去北京了吗?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-31T01:14:25.297Z
Humm, 你去了北京嗎 is totally correct.
Toosky Hierot
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-06T20:58:37.710Z
@Becky 李蓓 How do you make searches with spaced words on Jukuu?
Enrico Brasil
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-07T09:27:39.933Z
去了北京吗，this plan should being in progress (you are possibly in a plain or train), I just want to confirm.  你去北京了吗 , this event is expected to be at status Completed.
Daniel Yang
<grammar><particles>
Why is 你去了北京吗 less common than 你去北京了吗?
# Why is 你去了北京吗 less common than 你去北京了吗?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-10-31)

*Note*: My original question was *Why is 你去了北京 correct but 你去了北京吗 incorrect?* but I was mistaken, so I'll change the question to try to make it more useful (and less confusing) to the future reader. I'll edit so as to ensure the current answer remains relevant.

There seems to be an important difference between these ([completion 了](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_completion_with_%22le%22) vs. [change-of-state 了](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Change_of_state_with_%22le%22)):

> 你去**了**北京吗？  
> You went to Beijing?
>
> 你去北京**了**吗？  
> You went to Beijing?

I had thought it wasn't much of a difference, but the distinction seems very consistent:

* [`”去了北京吗“`](https://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%E2%80%9D%E5%8E%BB%E4%BA%86%E5%8C%97%E4%BA%AC%E5%90%97%E2%80%9C) (6 hits) [`”去北京了吗“`](https://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%E2%80%9D%E5%8E%BB%E5%8C%97%E4%BA%AC%E4%BA%86%E5%90%97%E2%80%9C) (82,100,000 hits) [actually, judging from later pages, these counts are incorrect and possibly misleading]
* [`”做了作业吗“`](https://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%E2%80%9D%E5%81%9A%E4%BA%86%E4%BD%9C%E4%B8%9A%E5%90%97%E2%80%9C) (7 hits) [”做作业了吗“](https://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%E2%80%9D%E5%81%9A%E4%BD%9C%E4%B8%9A%E4%BA%86%E5%90%97%E2%80%9C) (6,660 hits)
* [`”吃了午饭吗“`](https://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%E2%80%9D%E5%90%83%E4%BA%86%E5%8D%88%E9%A5%AD%E5%90%97%E2%80%9C) (7 hits) [`”吃午饭了吗“`](https://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%E2%80%9D%E5%90%83%E5%8D%88%E9%A5%AD%E4%BA%86%E5%90%97%E2%80%9C) (1,270,000 hits)
* Searching for `了 吗` at [Jukuu](http://www.jukuu.com/show-%E4%BA%86%E5%90%97-0.html) gives 10 pages of sentences ending ...了吗？ and the only examples with 了 after the verb also end in ...了吗 e.g. 他们确定**了**会议的日子**了吗**？.
* Searching for `了 吗` at [YouDao](http://youdao.com/example/blng/%E4%BA%86_%E5%90%97) is the same with the exception 你知道我看见**了**什么**吗**？
* The top answer to [吃午饭了, should 了 be right after 吃？](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/10837/8099) states 吃了午饭 cannot be turned into a question.

**Question**: Why is 你去了北京吗 less common than 你去北京了吗?

**Tags:** grammar, particles

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Humm, 你去了北京嗎 is totally correct.  
> **username_2**: @username_0 How do you make searches with spaced words on Jukuu?  
> **username_3**: 去了北京吗，this plan should being in progress (you are possibly in a plain or train), I just want to confirm.  你去北京了吗 , this event is expected to be at status Completed.  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2019-10-31. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

Both 你去了北京吗 and 你去北京了吗 are possible in practice, but they are used in different situations.

你去了北京吗 is used when you try to **confirm** the fact that someone really went to Beijing. Let's say you have two friends, Friend A and B. A told you that B has gone to Beijing last week. However, this information surprised you because you didn't expect B would go to Beijing for some reason. So, you might check with B with the question 你去了北京吗. The purpose is to confirm what A had said.

你去北京了吗 is used when you know someone has a plan to go to Beijing, but you don't know whether he has already been to or not. So you might ask him 你去北京了吗 to check if he has already been to Beijing.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Nice answer. What about 你去了北京了吗？How different from 你去北京了吗 would it be?  
> **username_6**: @username_2 你去了北京了吗？ sounds redundant. You could omit either 了.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-10-31. Score: 2

Totally agree with Dan's answer.

To answer your edited question: `Why is 你去了北京吗 less common than 你去北京了吗?`

It's Baidu's algorithm problem - probably wrong. If you search the same on Google, the results are pretty similar. ;)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Ah thanks.  Google's blocked here.  
> **username_4**: If you look at the search result on Baidu, 你去北京了吗 include result for every combination of the words, while 你去了北京吗 is just for the phrase. It's not consistent - and doesn't make sense why they treat both searches differently  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2019-10-31. Score: 0

A.你去了北京嗎？
B.你去北京了嗎？

me:I want to go Beijin this summer
Next year
friend:Hey, B.你去北京了嗎？
(hey, you tell me you want to go last summer, did you do that?)

me:I never been to Beijin, B.你去(過)北京了嗎？
(I never been there before, did you?)

me:I just come back from Beijin, it's beautiful place.
friend:oh, A.你去了北京嗎？
(oh, you did that yesterday?)

they feel a little bit different, but after all, A:你去了北京嗎？B:你去北京了嗎？
is the same, all these example can can swap A and B


---

