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.

Structure

Examples

我昨天晚上十一点才到家。 Wǒ zuótiān wǎnshang shíyī diǎn cái dào jiā. I didn't arrive at home until eleven o'clock last night.
他二十五岁才上大学。 Tā èrshí-wǔ suì cái shàng dàxué. He didn't go to college until he was 25.
她四十岁才结婚。 Tā sìshí suì cái jiéhūn. She didn't get married until she was forty.
我女儿昨天十二点才睡觉，作业太多了。 Wǒ nǚ'ér zuótiān shí'èr diǎn cái shuìjiào, zuòyè tài duō le. My daughter didn't go to bed until 12 o'clock yesterday. Too much homework.
你九点上班，八点半才起床？ Nǐ jiǔ diǎn shàngbān, bā diǎn bàn cái qǐchuáng? You get up at 8:30 when you need to show up at work at nine?
飞机刚刚才起飞，晚点了两个小时。 Fēijī gānggāng cái qǐfēi, wǎndiǎn le liǎng gè xiǎoshí. The flight just took off. It was delayed for two hours.
电影七点半开始，可是因为堵车，我们八点才到。 Diànyǐng qī diǎn bàn kāishǐ, kěshì yīnwèi dǔchē, wǒmen bā diǎn cái dào. The movie began at 7:30, but we didn't arrive until eight because of traffic.

You can use 才 alone with the verb to indicate the lateness when the context is clear:

你怎么才吃晚饭？已经十点了。 Nǐ zěnme cái chī wǎnfàn? Yǐjīng shí diǎn le. How come you are eating dinner now? It's 10 pm.
你怎么才来？我们等了半个多小时。 Nǐ zěnme cái lái? Wǒmen děng le bàn gè duō xiǎoshí. How come you came here so late? We've waited for more than half an hour.

Expressing lateness with "cai"

Contents

Structure

Examples

See also

Books