<p>This is a really good question. I assume you have already known that 了 is a sign of perfect aspect/tense. Although it is still controversial among grammarians whether Chinese languages have tenses or aspects, from a learner’s perspective, it is the easiest way to understand it. So what you are asking is, why there is another verb 来 in this sentence.</p>
<p><strong>来 is a necessary tendency/direction, which needs to be clarified.</strong></p>
<p>她吃晚饭的时候她朋友打电话了。<br />
While she was having dinner, her friend called.</p>
<p>This may seem completely fine in English, but in Chinese it is not correct for its ambiguity. “Her friend” may have called her, or the police, or anyone else. <strong>来</strong> clarifies this ambiguity by suggesting the call is <strong>coming</strong> from the subject, her friend, to the person mentioned before, her. The reason for this necessary tendency/direction is that 打电话 and to call have slightly different meanings.</p>
<p>To call is both transitive and intransitive when it means to telephone. In most cases it is transitive:</p>
<p>to call my friend, to call a taxi…</p>
<p>It is only intransitive when the object being called has been mentioned before, or the object is obvious in a conversation:</p>
<p><strong>Mary</strong> was not home yesterday morning. I <strong>called</strong> and no one answered. (Mary is mentioned before)<br />
I will <strong>call</strong> again later. (obviously I will call the person I am talking to)</p>
<p>Technically you could say “I call” but it is only an action of you picking up the telephone and dialling <strong>A</strong> (ambiguous) number. And it is exactly what it means in Chinese. That is why the specification is needed.</p>
<p><strong>The rest is more advanced grammar</strong></p>
<p>打电话 is a compound verb. And compound verbs are mostly intransitive, <em>e.g.</em></p>
<p>看电影 watch a movie<br />
洗衣服 wash clothes<br />
打电话 <em>lit.</em> dial a telephone<br />
吃饭 have a meal, <em>lit.</em> eat rice<br />
唱歌 sing a song<br />
跳舞 dance a dance</p>
<p>These compound verbs, as a whole, are verbs. But they have “sub-structures”. For example, 洗 itself is a verb and 衣服 is the object. In some cases, they can be treated as both compound verb and verb + object, but the two-character verbs are commonly treated only as intransitive compound verbs. This leads to a even more complicated topic about Chinese phrases, which I will not go into details. If you would like you could find some grammatical materials about this. I will just give a thorough analysis of this sentence for reference.</p>
<p><strong>first level</strong></p>
<p>她吃晚饭的时候｜她朋友｜打电话来了。<br />
她吃晚饭的时候 is an adverbial 状语<br />
她朋友 is the subject 主语<br />
打电话来了 is the verb/predicate 谓语</p>
<p><strong>second level</strong></p>
<p>她吃晚饭|的|时候 is a 偏正短语(adjective + noun or adverb + verb, aka noun phrase or verb phrase) acting as the adverbial<br />
她吃晚饭 is the adjective modifier 定语<br />
的 is a particle, no specific meaning, a link between adjective and noun
时候 is the head 中心语</p>
<p>她｜朋友 is a 偏正短语 acting as the subject<br />
她 is the adjective modifier 定语<br />
朋友 is the head 中心语<br />
N.B. There is no cases in Chinese but you can think of 她的 as the possessive pronoun her. 的 is omitted here to show a sense of intimacy (compare 我妈妈 and 我的妈妈, both mean my mom, the first is more intimate whilst the second more formal).</p>
<p>打电话｜来｜了 is a 动补短语(verb + complement) acting as the verb<br />
打电话 is the verb 谓语<br />
来 is the complement 补语<br />
了 is a particle 助词, no specific meaning, a sign of the completion of action</p>
<p><strong>third level</strong></p>
<p>她｜吃晚饭 is a 主谓短语(subject + verb) acting as an adjective<br />
她 is the subject 主语
吃饭 is the verb 谓语</p>
<p><strong>fourth level</strong></p>
<p>打｜电话 吃｜晚饭 are 动宾短语 acting as verbs (aka compound verbs)<br />
打&amp;吃 are verbs 动词<br />
电话&amp;晚饭 are objects 宾语</p>
<p>This level is not necessary as you can treat compound verbs as an independent verb. And here are some variations of the sentence:</p>
<p>她吃完饭打时候她朋友打电话来了。(original)<br />
她吃完饭打时候她朋友<strong>打了电话来</strong>。(<em>ver.</em> a)<br />
她吃完饭打时候她朋友<strong>打来了电话</strong>。(<em>ver.</em> b)<br />
她吃完饭打时候她朋友<strong>打来电话了</strong>。(<em>ver.</em> c)</p>
<p>They are all correct but the analyses of the phrases are different. Keep in mind that 了 follows directly after the verb.</p>
<p><em>ver.</em> a<br />
打 is a verb<br />
打了|电话 is a 动宾短语(verb + object) acting as a verb<br />
打了电话｜来 is a 动补短语 (verb + complement) acting as the verb of the sentence<br />
<strong>This is an SV sentence</strong></p>
<p><em>ver.</em> b<br />
打 is a verb<br />
打|来 is a 动补短语(verb + complement) acting as the verb of the sentence<br />
电话 is the object of the sentence<br />
<strong>This is an SVO sentence</strong></p>
<p><em>ver.</em> c<br />
打 is a verb<br />
打｜来 is a 动补短语(verb + complement) acting as a verb
打来｜电话 is a 动宾短语(verb + object) acting as the verb of the sentence<br />
<strong>This is an SV sentence</strong></p>
<p><strong>PS</strong><br />
<strong>I have always found it helpful to analyse the phrases of sentences when I am trying to learn Chinese. I think that the phrase is one of the most difficult and confusing parts of Chinese language and one of the main reasons that Chinese is quite “fluid” in terms of word order. The downside is that it is quite difficult to phrase a long and complex sentence compared to English. That is my own opinion though. But I did notice that native speakers tend to break a long sentence into a few small ones. Anyway hope this can help.</strong></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-06T20:38:18.837Z
2021-06-06T20:38:18.837Z
bkwm
<blockquote>
<p>她朋友打电话来了.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>来 here implies that her friend's call is <em>towards her</em>.  她朋友打电话了 just means her friend made a phone call, no direction indicated.</p>
<p>Compare 我一会打电话过去 to 我一会打电话过来.  Both 过去 and 过来 suggest the direction of the call.</p>
<p>Btw, 了 just denotes the completion.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-04T22:52:36.313Z
2021-06-04T22:52:36.313Z
dan
<p>Verbs in Chinese don't have past tenses.</p>
<p>她朋友打电话<strong>来了</strong> -&gt; Her friend call<strong>ed</strong>. Or she receiv<strong>ed</strong> a phone call from her friend.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-04T14:19:54.420Z
2021-06-04T14:19:54.420Z
Alpha Huang
<p>I don't think you should regard 来了 as necessarily belonging together.</p>
<p>Nor does  了 always indicate the past.</p>
<p>她来了，绕过拐角过来了。<br />
She's coming, (she's) just coming round the corner now.</p>
<p>公共汽车来了。<br />
Here comes the bus.</p>
<p>她吃晚饭的时候她朋友打电话来了。<br />
While she was eating supper her friend called.</p>
<p>她吃晚饭的时候她朋友打来电话了。<br />
While she was eating supper her friend called.</p>
<p>Languages tend to like redundancy, so some bits may be discarded:</p>
<p>她吃晚饭的时候她朋友打电话。<br />
While she was eating supper her friend called.</p>
<p>她吃晚饭的时候她给朋友打去电话。  (The opposite of 来 is often 去。)<br />
While she was eating supper she called her friend.</p>
<p>Funny, telephone means 'far sounds', originally a French system of some kind of musical morse code. Chinese has 电话： electric words</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-05T00:43:08.773Z
2021-06-05T00:43:08.773Z
Pedroski
<p>To me it's sound like past continuous tense.</p>
<p>Without 来了: Her friend called her at the dinner.</p>
<p>With 来了：The call came when she was having the dinner.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-06T01:38:12.103Z
2021-06-06T01:38:12.103Z
Zhang
<p>她吃晚饭的时候她朋友打电话来了。</p>
<p>I know it focuses the mind on perspective -- like the action previously stated has come toward the speaker in some way. But what is the exact function? I'd love to start naturally incorporating these elements on my own.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-04T12:39:14.717Z
I wonder if these help? https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/42927/27428 https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/42933/27428
L Parker
<translation><grammar><meaning><word-choice><meaning-in-context>
What is the exact function/purpose of 来了 at the end of sentences like this:
# What is the exact function/purpose of 来了 at the end of sentences like this:

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-06-04)

她吃晚饭的时候她朋友打电话来了。

I know it focuses the mind on perspective -- like the action previously stated has come toward the speaker in some way. But what is the exact function? I'd love to start naturally incorporating these elements on my own.

**Tags:** translation, grammar, meaning, word-choice, meaning-in-context
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I wonder if these help? https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/42927/27428 https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/42933/27428  

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## 5 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-06-06. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

This is a really good question. I assume you have already known that 了 is a sign of perfect aspect/tense. Although it is still controversial among grammarians whether Chinese languages have tenses or aspects, from a learner’s perspective, it is the easiest way to understand it. So what you are asking is, why there is another verb 来 in this sentence.

**来 is a necessary tendency/direction, which needs to be clarified.**

她吃晚饭的时候她朋友打电话了。  
While she was having dinner, her friend called.

This may seem completely fine in English, but in Chinese it is not correct for its ambiguity. “Her friend” may have called her, or the police, or anyone else. **来** clarifies this ambiguity by suggesting the call is **coming** from the subject, her friend, to the person mentioned before, her. The reason for this necessary tendency/direction is that 打电话 and to call have slightly different meanings.

To call is both transitive and intransitive when it means to telephone. In most cases it is transitive:

to call my friend, to call a taxi…

It is only intransitive when the object being called has been mentioned before, or the object is obvious in a conversation:

**Mary** was not home yesterday morning. I **called** and no one answered. (Mary is mentioned before)  
I will **call** again later. (obviously I will call the person I am talking to)

Technically you could say “I call” but it is only an action of you picking up the telephone and dialling **A** (ambiguous) number. And it is exactly what it means in Chinese. That is why the specification is needed.

**The rest is more advanced grammar**

打电话 is a compound verb. And compound verbs are mostly intransitive, *e.g.*

看电影 watch a movie  
洗衣服 wash clothes  
打电话 *lit.* dial a telephone  
吃饭 have a meal, *lit.* eat rice  
唱歌 sing a song  
跳舞 dance a dance

These compound verbs, as a whole, are verbs. But they have “sub-structures”. For example, 洗 itself is a verb and 衣服 is the object. In some cases, they can be treated as both compound verb and verb + object, but the two-character verbs are commonly treated only as intransitive compound verbs. This leads to a even more complicated topic about Chinese phrases, which I will not go into details. If you would like you could find some grammatical materials about this. I will just give a thorough analysis of this sentence for reference.

**first level**

她吃晚饭的时候｜她朋友｜打电话来了。  
她吃晚饭的时候 is an adverbial 状语  
她朋友 is the subject 主语  
打电话来了 is the verb/predicate 谓语

**second level**

她吃晚饭|的|时候 is a 偏正短语(adjective + noun or adverb + verb, aka noun phrase or verb phrase) acting as the adverbial  
她吃晚饭 is the adjective modifier 定语  
的 is a particle, no specific meaning, a link between adjective and noun
时候 is the head 中心语

她｜朋友 is a 偏正短语 acting as the subject  
她 is the adjective modifier 定语  
朋友 is the head 中心语  
N.B. There is no cases in Chinese but you can think of 她的 as the possessive pronoun her. 的 is omitted here to show a sense of intimacy (compare 我妈妈 and 我的妈妈, both mean my mom, the first is more intimate whilst the second more formal).

打电话｜来｜了 is a 动补短语(verb + complement) acting as the verb  
打电话 is the verb 谓语  
来 is the complement 补语  
了 is a particle 助词, no specific meaning, a sign of the completion of action

**third level**

她｜吃晚饭 is a 主谓短语(subject + verb) acting as an adjective  
她 is the subject 主语
吃饭 is the verb 谓语

**fourth level**

打｜电话 吃｜晚饭 are 动宾短语 acting as verbs (aka compound verbs)  
打&吃 are verbs 动词  
电话&晚饭 are objects 宾语

This level is not necessary as you can treat compound verbs as an independent verb. And here are some variations of the sentence:

她吃完饭打时候她朋友打电话来了。(original)  
她吃完饭打时候她朋友**打了电话来**。(*ver.* a)  
她吃完饭打时候她朋友**打来了电话**。(*ver.* b)  
她吃完饭打时候她朋友**打来电话了**。(*ver.* c)

They are all correct but the analyses of the phrases are different. Keep in mind that 了 follows directly after the verb.

*ver.* a  
打 is a verb  
打了|电话 is a 动宾短语(verb + object) acting as a verb  
打了电话｜来 is a 动补短语 (verb + complement) acting as the verb of the sentence  
**This is an SV sentence**

*ver.* b  
打 is a verb  
打|来 is a 动补短语(verb + complement) acting as the verb of the sentence  
电话 is the object of the sentence  
**This is an SVO sentence**

*ver.* c  
打 is a verb  
打｜来 is a 动补短语(verb + complement) acting as a verb
打来｜电话 is a 动宾短语(verb + object) acting as the verb of the sentence  
**This is an SV sentence**

**PS**  
**I have always found it helpful to analyse the phrases of sentences when I am trying to learn Chinese. I think that the phrase is one of the most difficult and confusing parts of Chinese language and one of the main reasons that Chinese is quite “fluid” in terms of word order. The downside is that it is quite difficult to phrase a long and complex sentence compared to English. That is my own opinion though. But I did notice that native speakers tend to break a long sentence into a few small ones. Anyway hope this can help.**


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### Answer by username_3 on 2021-06-04. Score: 2

> 她朋友打电话来了.

来 here implies that her friend's call is *towards her*. 她朋友打电话了 just means her friend made a phone call, no direction indicated.

Compare 我一会打电话过去 to 我一会打电话过来. Both 过去 and 过来 suggest the direction of the call.

Btw, 了 just denotes the completion.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2021-06-04. Score: 2

Verbs in Chinese don't have past tenses.

她朋友打电话**来了** -> Her friend call**ed**. Or she receiv**ed** a phone call from her friend.


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### Answer by username_5 on 2021-06-05. Score: 1

I don't think you should regard 来了 as necessarily belonging together.

Nor does 了 always indicate the past.

她来了，绕过拐角过来了。  
She's coming, (she's) just coming round the corner now.

公共汽车来了。  
Here comes the bus.

她吃晚饭的时候她朋友打电话来了。  
While she was eating supper her friend called.

她吃晚饭的时候她朋友打来电话了。  
While she was eating supper her friend called.

Languages tend to like redundancy, so some bits may be discarded:

她吃晚饭的时候她朋友打电话。  
While she was eating supper her friend called.

她吃晚饭的时候她给朋友打去电话。 (The opposite of 来 is often 去。)  
While she was eating supper she called her friend.

Funny, telephone means 'far sounds', originally a French system of some kind of musical morse code. Chinese has 电话： electric words


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### Answer by username_6 on 2021-06-06. Score: 1

To me it's sound like past continuous tense.

Without 来了: Her friend called her at the dinner.

With 来了：The call came when she was having the dinner.


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