啦 meaning in English
sentence-final particle, contraction of 了啊, indicating exclamation; particle placed after each item in a list of examples
Meaning of 啦
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- sentence-final particle, contraction of 了啊, indicating exclamation
- particle placed after each item in a list of examples
- (onom.) sound of singing, cheering etc
- (phonetic)
- (dialect) to chat
How to use 啦
Most often 啦 is a neutral-tone particle at the end of a sentence. It blends 了 (le) and 啊 (a) to add a lively, friendly or emphatic feel. Example: 我到家啦。(Wǒ dào jiā la.) I'm home now.
啦 has the mouth radical 口 on the left and 拉 (lā, to pull) on the right. Picture a mouth pulling out a long, drawn-out sound at the end of a sentence, like "la".
Common mistake: Learners sometimes use 啦 in formal writing or with people they should address formally. It sounds casual and chatty, so in essays or reports use plain 了 instead. Also, do not give the particle a full tone. As a particle it is neutral la, and it is only lā in words like 啦啦队.
啦 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
啦 la · sentence-final particle · 11 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 啦.
| 啦啦队 | lālāduì | cheerleading squad |
| 啦啦队长 | lālāduìzhǎng | cheerleader |
Questions about 啦
What does 啦 mean?
啦 (la) means "sentence-final particle, contraction of 了啊, indicating exclamation; particle placed after each item in a list of examples" and is used as a auxiliary verb.
How do you write 啦?
啦 is made of 1 character: 啦 (11 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 啦 an HSK word?
Yes. 啦 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 啦 and 了?
啦 is a fusion of 了 and 啊, so it carries the same sense of change or completion plus extra emotion. 好了 (hǎo le) simply states that something is done or fine. 好啦 (hǎo la) sounds warmer, more relaxed, or a bit insistent.
How is 啦 used in a list?
You can put 啦 after each item to list examples in a casual way. For example: 苹果啦、香蕉啦，他都喜欢。(Píngguǒ la, xiāngjiāo la, tā dōu xǐhuan.) Apples, bananas, he likes them all.