B1 · Grammar reference
Expressing lateness with "cai"
To express that something happened later than expected, you can use 才 (cái). In English, this might be expressed with "as late as" or "not until." This form is often used with a time of some sort, like a specific time of day, age, etc. This pattern is essentially the opposite of using 就 (jiù) to express earliness.
- Keywords
- 才
- Used for
- Expressing time and date · Expressing attitude · Sequencing events in time
- Classification
- Adverbs · HSK3
Examples (9)
我昨天晚上十一点才到家。
他二十五岁才上大学。
她四十岁才结婚。
我女儿昨天十二点才睡觉，作业太多了。
你九点上班，八点半才起床？
飞机刚刚才起飞，晚点了两个小时。
电影七点半开始，可是因为堵车，我们八点才到。
你怎么才吃晚饭？已经十点了。
你怎么才来？我们等了半个多小时。
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Summary, structure, classification, and adapted sentence examples draw from the AllSet Learning Chinese Grammar Wiki under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; changes were made. This noncommercial reference is based on an October 2023 snapshot.
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