"她几乎迟到了!"
Translation:She was almost late!
19 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
2527
In this sentence, how do I differentiate 了 meaning past tense ("was late") versus emphasis ("is late!!!")?
2527
Thanks for the explanation. This particular sentence has no context, so both interpretations should be correct, right?
2527
When we read the sentence by itself in Chinese (i.e. no context), we don't know whether it is part of a conversation about the present or the past. Therefore, because 了 can indicate either 1) a past action, or 2) an intensification of a present action, we can't say one translation is right and the other is wrong.
71
I'm sorry, but I can't think of any situation in which this would be happening now. If she is almost late, as opposed to having been almost late, but arrived in the nick of time, then it'd be more of 她快要迟到了.
2527
Imagine three people are supposed to greet a VIP at the company headquarters when she arrives at 11 in the morning. It is one minute to 11, and two of the three are there. One says to the other, "Oh no, Jane is almost late! I hope she gets here in the next few seconds!"
71
Yes, that is something like what I had in mind as well. In that situation it might be better to use the example I mentioned above.