<blockquote>
<p><em>which gives a contradiction.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>There is no contradiction. Everything described in &quot;他以为 (he thought)&quot; is hypothetical.</p>
<p>Similarly, everything described in [He said: &quot;....&quot; ] doesn't need to be in the same universe with the rest of the text.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Nothing wrong with '他以为我买了三本书，但是我什么都没买。' (The fact -- 'you bought three books' is in his mind only)</p>
</li>
<li><p>'我看着我买了三本书，但是我什么都没买。' would be contradicting (The two facts cannot be both true)</p>
</li>
<li><p>'他叫我买了三本书，但是我什么都没买。' would also be contradicting. It has to be '他叫我买三本书，但是我什么都没买。' ('told you to buy' cannot be changed to 'told you to have bought')</p>
</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-23T13:13:01.297Z
2021-01-01T23:51:59.620Z
2021-01-01T23:51:59.620Z
Tang Ho
<p>When learning about when to use 了, we're typically given simple examples with clear-cut answers, such as the following:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>我买<strong>了</strong>三本书。<br />
I bought three books.<br />
<sub><a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_completion_with_%22le%22" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Expressing completion with &quot;le&quot;</a></sub></p>
</blockquote>
<p>We are taught that the reason we add the 了 is for completion: 买 is complete in the above example.  Then we get thrown into the real world, where we might want to say something like:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>他以为我买<strong>了</strong>三本书，但是我什么都没买。<br />
He thinks I bought three books, but I didn't buy anything.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We have a grammar vs. context battle: the (local) grammar implies we should add the 了 (as above in 我买了三本书), while the context destroys the logic used above (买 is <em>not</em> complete), which gives a contradiction.</p>
<p><strong>Question</strong>: When translating &quot;he thinks I bought three books, but I didn't buy anything&quot;, do we add a completion 了 for &quot;bought&quot;?</p>

<translation><grammar><particles>
When translating "he thinks I bought three books, but I didn't buy anything", do we add a completion 了 for "bought"?
# When translating "he thinks I bought three books, but I didn't buy anything", do we add a completion 了 for "bought"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-12-23)

When learning about when to use 了, we're typically given simple examples with clear-cut answers, such as the following:

> 我买**了**三本书。  
> I bought three books.  
> [Expressing completion with "le"](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_completion_with_%22le%22)

We are taught that the reason we add the 了 is for completion: 买 is complete in the above example. Then we get thrown into the real world, where we might want to say something like:

> 他以为我买**了**三本书，但是我什么都没买。  
> He thinks I bought three books, but I didn't buy anything.

We have a grammar vs. context battle: the (local) grammar implies we should add the 了 (as above in 我买了三本书), while the context destroys the logic used above (买 is *not* complete), which gives a contradiction.

**Question**: When translating "he thinks I bought three books, but I didn't buy anything", do we add a completion 了 for "bought"?

**Tags:** translation, grammar, particles

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-12-23. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

> *which gives a contradiction.*

There is no contradiction. Everything described in "他以为 (he thought)" is hypothetical.

Similarly, everything described in [He said: "...." ] doesn't need to be in the same universe with the rest of the text.

* Nothing wrong with '他以为我买了三本书，但是我什么都没买。' (The fact -- 'you bought three books' is in his mind only)
* '我看着我买了三本书，但是我什么都没买。' would be contradicting (The two facts cannot be both true)
* '他叫我买了三本书，但是我什么都没买。' would also be contradicting. It has to be '他叫我买三本书，但是我什么都没买。' ('told you to buy' cannot be changed to 'told you to have bought')


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