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- <p>One of the ways to express lateness in Chinese is with 才
- (cái).</p>
- <h2 id="structure">Structure</h2>
- <p>To express that something happened later than expected, you can
- use 才.</p>
- <div class="jiegou">
- <p>Subj. + Time Word + 才 + Verb-Obj.</p>
- </div>
- <p>In English this might be expressed with "as late as" or "not
- until." This form is often used with a time number of some sort,
- like a specific time, age etc.</p>
- <h2 id="examples">Examples</h2>
- <div class="liju">
- <ul>
- <li>我 昨天 十 点 <em>才</em> 下班 。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ zuótiān shí
- diǎn <em>cái</em> xiàbān.</span><span class="trans">I got off work
- at ten o'clock yesterday.</span></li>
- <li>他 二十 五 岁 <em>才</em> 上 大学 。<span class="pinyin">Tā èrshí-wǔ suì
- <em>cái</em> shàng dàxué.</span><span class="trans">He didn't go to
- college until he was 25.</span></li>
- <li>我 老板 四十 多 岁 <em>才</em> 结婚 。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ lǎobǎn sìshí
- duō suì <em>cái</em> jiéhūn.</span><span class="trans">My boss
- didn't get married until he was forty.</span></li>
- <li>你 九点 上班 ，八 点 半 <em>才</em> 起床 ？<span class="pinyin">Nǐ jiǔ diǎn
- shàngbān, bā diǎn bàn <em>cái</em> qǐchuáng?</span><span class=
- "trans">You get up at 8:30 while you need to show up at work at
- nine?</span></li>
- <li>我们 十点 上课，老师 十 点 半 <em>才</em> 来 。<span class="pinyin">Wǒmen shí
- diǎn shàngkè, lǎoshī shí diǎn bàn <em>cái</em>
- lái.</span><span class="trans">We have class at 10 o'clock and the
- teacher didn't come until half past ten.</span></li>
- <li>我 女儿 每天 晚上 都 十二 点 <em>才</em> 睡觉 ，作业 太 多 了 。<span class=
- "pinyin">Wǒ nǚ'ér měi tiān wǎnshang dōu shí'èr diǎn <em>cái</em>
- shuìjiào, zuòyè tài duō le.</span><span class="trans">My daughter
- goes to bed at 12 o'clock every day. She has too much
- homework.</span></li>
- <li>你 怎么 <em>才</em> 来 ？我 等 了 你 半 个 多 小时 。 <span class="pinyin">Nǐ
- zěnme <em>cái</em> lái? Wǒ děng le nǐ bàn gè duō
- xiǎoshí.</span><span class="trans">How come you just came? I've
- waited for you more than half an hour.</span></li>
- <li>我们 找 了 一 个 多 小时 <em>才</em> 找到 。<span class="pinyin">Wǒmen zhǎo
- le yī gè duō xiǎoshí <em>cái</em> zhǎodào.</span><span class=
- "trans">It took us more than an hour to find it.</span></li>
- </ul>
- </div>
- <p>Note that verbs following 才 cannot take 了，as the action does not
- have the sense of being completed. So, in the above situation, it
- is wrong to say:</p>
- <div class="liju">
- <ul>
- <li>昨天 晚上 我的 女儿 一点半 <em>才</em> 回家 <strong>了</strong> 。<span class=
- "pinyin">Zuótiān wǎnshang wǒ de nǚ'ér yīdiǎn bàn <em>cái</em>
- huíjiā <strong>le</strong>.</span></li>
- </ul>
- </div>
- <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
- <ul>
- <li><a href="Expressing_earliness_with_"jiu"" title=
- "wikilink">Expressing earliness with "jiu"</a></li>
- <li><a href="Comparing_"cai"_and_"jiu"" title=
- "wikilink">Comparing "cai" and "jiu"</a></li>
- </ul>
- <h2 id="sources-and-further-reading">Sources and further
- reading</h2>
- <h3 id="books">Books</h3>
- <ul>
- <li><a href="Basic_Patterns_of_Chinese_Grammar" title=
- "wikilink">Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar</a> (pp. 117-8)
- <a href=
- "http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933330899/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=1933330899">
- →buy</a></li>
- <li><a href="Integrated_Chinese:_Level_1,_Part_1_(3rd_ed)" title=
- "wikilink">Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed)</a> (pp.
- 139) <a href=
- "http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887276385/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0887276385">
- →buy</a></li>
- <li><a href=
- "40_Lessons_for_Basic_Chinese_Course_(%E5%9F%BA%E7%A1%80%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD40%E8%AF%BE%E4%B8%8A%E5%86%8C%EF%BC%89"
- title="wikilink">40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course
- (基础汉语40课上册）</a> (p. 239)<a href=
- "http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FTL8D8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001FTL8D8&linkCode=as2&tag=allset-20">→buy</a></li>
- </ul>
- <h3 id="websites">Websites</h3>
- <ul>
- <li>East Asia Student: <a href=
- "http://eastasiastudent.net/2619/china/mandarin/cmn-grammar/jiu-cai-early-as-not-until/">
- 就 and 才 in Mandarin: as early as, not until</a></li>
- </ul>
- <p><a href="Category:B1_grammar_points" title=
- "wikilink">Category:B1 grammar points</a> <a href=
- "Category:_Adverbs" title="wikilink">Category: Adverbs</a></p>
- </body>
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