"Where were you yesterday afternoon?"

Translation: 你昨天下午在哪儿？

[akavel]

When I have to use "le" and when not?

[Natch_7]

"le" is generally used to indicate the completion of a verb or it can go after an adjective and sometimes also a verb to indicate a change in state.

[BenjaminTh276643]

Do you use 了 with 在？

For example: 你在了哪儿？
To mean: Where were you?

[Gabrielle145359]

No. 在 is not an action, and more specifically cannot be a completed action.

[Slade366]

Is 你昨天下午在了哪儿？ okay? Is the 了 okay?

[Natch_7]

"了" isn't used after "在" because "在" is a "to be" verb, only with respect to where something is located. "在" is used to indicate the state of being located somewhere. The action of a "to be" verb is ongoing and as such, cannot be completed since it's generally used as a passive voice verb. When deciding when to use "了", when indicating the completion of a verb, make sure the verb is an active voice verb.

[IsuruGunaw]

Thank you very much for clarifying this. I also had a problem with this, but after reading this I can understand it clearly.

[RuciGluci]

basically 了 is used to show the change of state

下雨了 - "it rains"
it wasn't raining before, but now it is - the state has changed

also sometimes works like past tense marker

我昨天买了三个苹果 -"I bought three apples yesterday"

(bare in mind that is how I understand that)

[Natch_7]

You are correct in that one of the uses of 了 is to show a change in state, like the example you mentioned. To expand on 了 being kind of like a past tense marker (although that's not what it's for), 了 can also be used after a verb or adjective to indicate completion.

[Xicious]

Isn't哪里 the same as 哪儿? If so why can't I put in 哪里？

[Mikobjor]

thats the issue i had. i asked a native speaker and they said they are interchangeable. so it should be the same, right?

[satkat]

胙天下午你在哪儿， 也可以。为什么错了？

[CinJinMaanJyu]

Report it, please

[YouTubeBlackVito]

How do you say the equivalent of "mind your business" in Chinese

[o-chefe]

（少管）闲事
(shǎo guǎn) xián shì

河水不犯井水
hé shuǐ bù fàn jǐng shuǐ
"river water does not interfere with well water"

(from CC-CEDICT)

[Jessie236955]

This sounds like an interrogation

[DenisDmir]

Why is 你昨天下午了在哪儿 wrong?

[cagprado]

了 is not used before the verb!

[DenisDmir]

got it, 了 must be after the verb

[ChiNane]

In general yes, but not with zai.

[HeatherKni2]

你昨天午上在哪儿
why is this not correct? What is the difference
between 下午 and 午上

[PeterCross7]

Could it be you were confusing 'afternoon' with 'morning'? Morning can be '早上' & '上午, but I only no afternoon as '下午'

Otherwise I think it may be the placement of '上'.

I have no idea if it is correct but it helps me remember if I think that '上‘ after something indicates 'during' but '上' at the begining is 'before'.

So with '午' (noon) 上午 is before noon i.e. morning'.
With ’晚‘ (evening/night) and '早' (morning) adding '上‘ makes ’晚上‘ (during the?) evening/night and '早上': (during the?) day.

[FJSoekahar]

This is really frustrating, my answer which were 100% the same to yours was still rejected. Please do sonething.

[kyto247456]

Is 上个下午 grammatically correct?

[bramlaksono]

what's the difference between 下午 and 中午？

[KX3.]

下午 is afternoon whereas 中午 is noon.

[Rexadonis]

why is it wrong to use
'le'