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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_(基础汉语40课上册）" 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>
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