# 我现在做了语文老师。



## yuechu

大家好!

A Chinese friend on the internet sent me the following sentence a while ago: 我现在做了语文老师。I was wondering, what does "了" mean in this sentence? Is it a "completed action marker"? Would it translate to the present perfect in English?
(What is the difference between 我现在做了语文老师。and 我现在(在？）做语文老师。?)
I guess I am a bit confused since it is both in the present and has a "completed action marker", if that is what it is here.

Thanks!


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## nosaijin

It doesn't really have a meaning and yes, as you mentioned, it is a completed action marker.

What your friend meant was like: "I've now become a language teacher".

"我現在在做語文老師" = I'm now (working as) a language teacher.

Basically there's no semantic difference between them. At least to me.


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## yuechu

Ah, knowing that it can translate as the present perfect helps a lot! (I find it hard to understand some of the abstract definitions sometimes)
Thanks, nosaijin!


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## nosaijin

Anytime, yuechu.

Merely "了” itself doesn't always indicate present perfect, though. In your example, it was “現在” that made the sentence “present” perfect (現在= now) . 

You're right, Chinese/Mandarin can sometimes be abstract and hard to learn/explain


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## philchinamusical

“做了语文老师” or “在做语文老师” sound quite uncomfortable to me. I'd say "当" instead of "做".
我当了语文老师了
我在当语文老师


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## Skatinginbc

philchinamusical said:


> “做了语文老师”...sound quite uncomfortable to me.


It sounds scary: (1) 我「做」了語文老師 (霸王硬上弓), (2) 我「做」了語文老師 (沒留活口).  誰想現在「做」了語文老師?


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## philchinamusical

@Skatinginbc 您的联想...好丰富... However，（2）其实颇有上海话的味道。上海话里说“把...做忒”，就是指“干掉...”的意思。前年My Fair Lady来上海演出，我翻译字幕时候，还专门用了这个表达，效果很不错。


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## yuechu

Oh! I certainly wouldn't want it to sound scary... I think there might be regional differences, right? It looks like 当 is more widely accepted (compared to 做), and would not be misinterpreted to have a bad meaning, right? I'll try to remember this!
I have heard may people use 做 without a bad meaning though... I think it's ok in 北方话, right?

Thanks!


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## hx1997

In the right context, 做了语文老师 wouldn't have a bad meaning. In fact, I didn't think of a bad meaning until I clicked in this thread!

Edit: Without a context, even 当了语文老师 can be interpreted as 把语文老师给了当铺 (I pawned my Chinese teacher at the pawnbroker's)!


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## retrogradedwithwind

做了=杀了，这个意思还不算罕见。不过一般情况下，用“做了语文老师”也没什么人会那么联想就是了。


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## philchinamusical

@yuechu Don't worry... As @hx1997 said, it depends on the contexts.

Besides, if you are using "做" as "杀", it usually goes with "把". For example: 我把XXX做掉了.

There is also an equivalent in northern Chinese Mandarin as "办": 我把XXX（给）办了.
——Again, it's still context dependent, or "办公室" will be a bloody horrible place...


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## SuperXW

Skating你开玩笑就说明开玩笑……不要加个就默认所有人都知道你在开玩笑……不要误导外国友人……


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## Skatinginbc

做了X:
(1) 從事了某類工作或活動: 做了買賣, 做了生意, 做了手腳...
(2) 從事了某類人的工作或活動: 做了客...做了賊, 做了強盜, 做了間諜, 做了漢奸, 做了走狗...
(3) 成了擁有某身分的人: 做了官, 做了鬼, 做了丈夫, 做了父親, 做了三姨太, 做了宰相, 做了傀儡...做了賊, 做了強盜, 做了間諜, 做了漢奸, 做了走狗...

A: 我做了語文老師 (我成了擁有語文老師身分的人).
B: 喔 (心想: 他是掙得了這個身分, 想聽聲恭喜, 還是淪為語文老師, 想表達無奈不幸?).

自從川普做了總統 Since Trump took the title of president...(成了擁有總統身分的人)
自從奧巴馬當了總統 Since Obama served as president...(担任了總統之職)


yuechu said:


> 我现在做了语文老师。


It sounds slangy to me.  And that's why I mentioned some related slang expressions (post #6) and made a joke out of it (誰想現在「做」了語文老師?)


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