<p>The structure of this sentence is ： subject （衣服）+ verb（落）+ prepositional phrase .
“ 了” has two pronunciation：</p>

<ol>
<li><p>le   it’s a structuralparticle ， when it is used after a verb. It expresses completion of this action. It has another usage which is to express a new situation is about to happen or it has happened.</p></li>
<li><p>liao  when 了 is pronounced as “ liao”, it meas “ to finish, over”, like: 我喝不了10瓶啤酒。 （I can’t drink over 10 bottles of beer.)</p></li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-15T05:39:25.923Z
2013-11-15T05:39:25.923Z
Wordoor
<p>衣服也落在房间内*<em>了</em>*。</p>

<p>Here 了 is used to indicate the completion of the action of 落在房间内.</p>

<p>衣服也落在*<em>了</em>*房间内。</p>

<p>Here 了 is moved forward and positioned after 在, and that makes 房间内 become the focus point of this setence.</p>

<p>Other examples: 
一阵大风吹来，我的帽子飞到*<em>了</em>*天上。</p>

<p>他开车撞到*<em>了</em>*树上。</p>

<p>他把狗锁在*<em>了</em>*屋内。</p>

<p>她一挥手碰翻*<em>了</em>*水杯。</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-12T21:25:20.917Z
Great answer. I agree with the point of 房间内 being the 'focus'.
deutschZuid
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-12T20:46:21.823Z
2013-11-12T20:46:21.823Z
孤影萍踪
<p>Could someone please explain this sentence structure?</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>衣服也落在了房间内.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>What does the 了 mean here? Is it pronounce le or liao?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-12T11:36:44.380Z
1. The usage is "used after the verb or adj. to indicate completion": The clothes **have been forgotten** in the room. 2. It is pronounced as `le` 3. Note that 落 here sounds `là`.
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-12T11:41:06.837Z
Thank you. So 落在is a verb that is pronounced la zai? Why is the 在needed? Cant this be written as 落了? 谢谢
rabbid
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-12T11:57:42.250Z
Here, "落了" (là le) is wrong. A conversation can be "A: 你落了什么东西没有? B: 我落钱包了!" But if you want to add the information of ***place*** where the specific thing is forgotten, "落在" is a conventional form to express that. BTW, the sentence can also be "衣服也落在房间内了".
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-12T16:46:44.133Z
@Stan I'm actually really confused here. Why is 了 _after_ 在? The verb is 落, and 在房间内 is the complement indicating location.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-13T02:10:06.570Z
@StumpyJoePete: Academically speaking, it is quite complex. First, these two structures would be easily mixed up: 1) v + complement(prep+了+obj). 2) v + complement(v+了+obj). The 了 in both of them can be put at the end of the sentence. 孤影萍踪's example "她一挥手碰 **翻了** 水杯" is the second case (as 水杯翻了 is a complete sentence). For this second case, this paper [结果补语小句分析和小句的内部结构](http://d.wanfangdata.com.cn/periodical_hzkjdxxb-shkxb200604008.aspx) explains it as the issue of tense. For the first case, I agree with 孤影萍踪 to my language sense, but I don't know if there's any standard explanation :)
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-13T05:54:32.170Z
@Stan That sounds really interesting. I think it really deserves more explanation. I think that _most_ of the time, you have V+了+在Place, but _some_ verbs can be V在＋了+Place. I did a quick google search for "了在" and 输，落，and 长 were common verbs taking this form. Maybe it's just lexical which verbs can do this, or maybe there's some structure I don't know.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-13T06:47:26.767Z
@StumpyJoePete: Not only 在. Many prepositions work in this way: 1) 他撞 **到** 了树上. 2) 他走 **上** 了一条不归路. 3) 他丢 **下** 了孩子. etc. Hmm, so let's wait for someone who can clearly explain this -- though I think 孤影萍踪's answer is good enough for a quick understanding.
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-13T15:40:07.737Z
@Stan Those are different... you don't ever say 他撞了到树上. With 在, it's usually connected to the place and not the verb that precedes it (e.g., 手机丢了在异地可以报案吗?).
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-13T18:07:39.453Z
@Stan Actually now that I think about it more, I think it's a distinction between Complements and Adjuncts. Usually location phrases are adjuncts (and would therefore never have 了s stuck in the middle of them), but sometimes they can act as complements (of result, like the 到 example). I guess I had just never seen such an example before.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-14T01:24:40.487Z
@StumpyJoePete: Your example is interesting. I had thought "V+了+在Place" was a typo because I couldn't recall an example. But if rigorously checking the example, it is grammatically wrong and only acceptable in spoken language: the subject for 丢 is 手机, but the subject for 报案 should be *a person*. Yes we often omit it in spoken language, but a pedant would say like "手机丢了, 我在异地可以报案吗?" then it is another structure.
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-14T01:27:48.780Z
let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/11487/discussion-between-stan-and-stumpy-joe-pete)
Stan
<grammar><particles>
What does 了mean in 衣服也落在了房间内, and is it pronounce le or liao?
# What does 了mean in 衣服也落在了房间内, and is it pronounce le or liao?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-11-12)

Could someone please explain this sentence structure?

> 衣服也落在了房间内.

What does the 了 mean here? Is it pronounce le or liao?

**Tags:** grammar, particles
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 1. The usage is "used after the verb or adj. to indicate completion": The clothes **have been forgotten** in the room. 2. It is pronounced as `le` 3. Note that 落 here sounds `là`.  
> **username_0**: Thank you. So 落在is a verb that is pronounced la zai? Why is the 在needed? Cant this be written as 落了? 谢谢  
> **username_1**: Here, "落了" (là le) is wrong. A conversation can be "A: 你落了什么东西没有? B: 我落钱包了!" But if you want to add the information of ***place*** where the specific thing is forgotten, "落在" is a conventional form to express that. BTW, the sentence can also be "衣服也落在房间内了".  
> **username_2**: @Stan I'm actually really confused here. Why is 了 _after_ 在? The verb is 落, and 在房间内 is the complement indicating location.  
> **username_1**: @StumpyJoePete: Academically speaking, it is quite complex. First, these two structures would be easily mixed up: 1) v + complement(prep+了+obj). 2) v + complement(v+了+obj). The 了 in both of them can be put at the end of the sentence. 孤影萍踪's example "她一挥手碰 **翻了** 水杯" is the second case (as 水杯翻了 is a complete sentence). For this second case, this paper [结果补语小句分析和小句的内部结构](http://d.wanfangdata.com.cn/periodical_hzkjdxxb-shkxb200604008.aspx) explains it as the issue of tense. For the first case, I agree with 孤影萍踪 to my language sense, but I don't know if there's any standard explanation :)  
> **username_2**: @Stan That sounds really interesting. I think it really deserves more explanation. I think that _most_ of the time, you have V+了+在Place, but _some_ verbs can be V在＋了+Place. I did a quick google search for "了在" and 输，落，and 长 were common verbs taking this form. Maybe it's just lexical which verbs can do this, or maybe there's some structure I don't know.  
> **username_1**: @StumpyJoePete: Not only 在. Many prepositions work in this way: 1) 他撞 **到** 了树上. 2) 他走 **上** 了一条不归路. 3) 他丢 **下** 了孩子. etc. Hmm, so let's wait for someone who can clearly explain this -- though I think 孤影萍踪's answer is good enough for a quick understanding.  
> **username_2**: @Stan Those are different... you don't ever say 他撞了到树上. With 在, it's usually connected to the place and not the verb that precedes it (e.g., 手机丢了在异地可以报案吗?).  
> **username_2**: @Stan Actually now that I think about it more, I think it's a distinction between Complements and Adjuncts. Usually location phrases are adjuncts (and would therefore never have 了s stuck in the middle of them), but sometimes they can act as complements (of result, like the 到 example). I guess I had just never seen such an example before.  
> **username_1**: @StumpyJoePete: Your example is interesting. I had thought "V+了+在Place" was a typo because I couldn't recall an example. But if rigorously checking the example, it is grammatically wrong and only acceptable in spoken language: the subject for 丢 is 手机, but the subject for 报案 should be *a person*. Yes we often omit it in spoken language, but a pedant would say like "手机丢了, 我在异地可以报案吗?" then it is another structure.  
> **username_1**: let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/11487/discussion-between-stan-and-stumpy-joe-pete)  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2013-11-12. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

衣服也落在房间内\**了*\*。

Here 了 is used to indicate the completion of the action of 落在房间内.

衣服也落在\**了*\*房间内。

Here 了 is moved forward and positioned after 在, and that makes 房间内 become the focus point of this setence.

Other examples:
一阵大风吹来，我的帽子飞到\**了*\*天上。

他开车撞到\**了*\*树上。

他把狗锁在\**了*\*屋内。

她一挥手碰翻\**了*\*水杯。

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: Great answer. I agree with the point of 房间内 being the 'focus'.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2013-11-15. Score: 0

The structure of this sentence is ： subject （衣服）+ verb（落）+ prepositional phrase .
“ 了” has two pronunciation：

1. le it’s a structuralparticle ， when it is used after a verb. It expresses completion of this action. It has another usage which is to express a new situation is about to happen or it has happened.
2. liao when 了 is pronounced as “ liao”, it meas “ to finish, over”, like: 我喝不了10瓶啤酒。 （I can’t drink over 10 bottles of beer.)


---

