5 Common Adverbs of Time in Chinese

In this article, we’ll introduce a number of time adverbs, which tells you when and/or how long an action is carried out. Let’s study several terms below and try to form sentences accordingly, they are

才, 曾经, 从来, 赶快 and 已经

才(only just, cái)

才 is a time adverb that denotes only or only just. Let’s look at some sample sentences:

• 我昨天才到北京。

  wǒ zuó tiān cái dào běi jīng.

  I just reached Beijing yesterday.

• 你怎么才来就要走？

  nǐ zěn me cái lái jiù yào zǒu?

  Why are you leaving when you’ve just reached?

曾经(once, céng jīng)

曾经 is used when talking about activities in the past. Let’s look at some sample sentences:

• 我曾经学过一年汉语。

  wǒ céng jīng xué guò yì nián hàn yǔ.

  I have once studied Chinese for a year.

• 这部电影曾经非常受欢迎。

  zhè bù diàn yǐng céng jīng fēi cháng shòu huān yíng.

  This movie used to be very popular once.

从来(all along / always, cóng lái)

从来 is used to indicate from the past till now, mostly used with “不(bù)” for negation. Let’s look at some sample sentences:

• 我从来都不吃香蕉。

  I’ve never eaten a banana before.

  wǒ cóng lái dōu bù chī xiāng jiāo.

• 我爸爸从来不喝酒。

  My dad never drinks alcohol.

  wǒ bà ba cóng lái bù hē jiǔ.

赶快(quickly / immediately, gǎn kuài)

赶快 is used to express an urgent situation that requires immediate attention. Let’s look at some sample sentences:

• 你这么不舒服，赶快去医院看看吧。

  nǐ zhè me bù shū fu, gǎn kuài qù yī yuàn kàn kàn ba.

  You are so unwell, go to the hospital immediately.

• 飞机九点起飞，我们赶快去机场吧。

  fēi jī jiǔ diǎn qǐ fēi, wǒ men gǎn kuài qù jī chǎng ba.

  The plane takes off at nine o'clock, let's go to the airport quickly.

已经(already, yǐ jīng)

已经 is used to indicate that an action is done. It is equivalent to “already” in English. Let’s look at some sample sentences:

• 我们已经做好了下个月的工作计划。

  wǒ men yǐ jīng zuò hǎo le xià gè yuè de gōng zuò jì huà.

  We’ve already done the work plan for next month.

• 他已经离开上海了，明年一月才会回来。

  tā yǐ jīng lí kāi shàng hǎi le, míng nián yī yuè cái huì huí lái.

  He has already left Shanghai and will not be back until January next year.

Hope these adverbs of time will help you express when an action is done successfully.