51.2 The Aspect Particle 咗 zo2 with Predicative Adjectives I

We have learned to use aspect particles and verbal particles with verbs. We can actually use aspect particles and verbal particles with adjectives too.

We can use the aspect particle 咗 zo2 with a predicative adjective. In this use, 咗 zo2 adds the meaning of ‘to have become’ to the sentence. We put 咗 zo2 after the predicate adjective. When 咗 zo2 is added, we don’t need to add an adverb (the default adverb 好 hou2 or other degree words) between the subject and the predicative adjective. We put the predicative adjective right after the subject.

If the adjective describes a quality that can vary in degrees (e.g., 高 gou1 ‘tall’, 肥 fei4 ‘fat’), 咗 zo2 adds the meaning of ‘to have become more’.

We can add the following adverbs after 咗 zo2 to indicate the degree of the quality.