Talking about time is inevitable. Not only telling the time, but also parts of the day, order of events, speed of occurrences, etc. Here are 3 more time phrases to use in daily conversations.

 

一早 yì zǎo

The short phrase 一早 consists of two basic Chinese characters: 一 (yī, one) and 早 (zǎo, morning). Together 一早, and also 一大早 (yí dà zǎo), mean early in the morning. It refers to an action that took place at dawn or first thing in the morning. Although the phrase isn’t necessarily adjacent to the verb, it mostly precedes the verb and is followed by 就 (jiù, expressing early). For example:

今天一大早，这些新鲜蔬菜就被带来。

Jīn tiān yī dà zǎo, zhè xiē xīn xiān shū cài jiù bèi dài lái.

These fresh vegetables were brought in early this morning.

渔夫一早就出海去了。

Yú fū yī zǎo jiù chū hǎi qùle.

The fisherman went out to the sea early in the morning.

他一大早就结了帐离开了旅馆。

Tā yī dà zǎo jiù jié le zhàng lí kāi le lǚ guǎn.

He checked out and left the hotel early in the morning.

需要我明天一早来吗?

Xū yào wǒ míng tiān yī zǎo lái ma?

Do you need me to come early tomorrow morning?

 

准时 zhǔn shí

准时 means on time, on schedule. It’s a synonym to 按时 (àn shí), and refers to an action that took place at the promised time. The adverb 准时 appears before the action that occurred as planned: 准时 + verb. For example:

你开车来也好，乘火车来也好，但必须准时到达。

Nǐ kāi chē lái yě hǎo, chéng huǒ chē lái yě hǎo, dàn bì xū zhǔn shí dào dá.

Whether you come by car or train, you must arrive on time.

虽然飞行被取消，但是他还准时来了。

Suī rán fēi xíng bèi qǔ xiāo, dàn shì tā hái zhǔn shí lái le.

Although the flight was cancelled, he still came on time.

你要想准时到达那里就最好马上走。

Nǐ yào xiǎng zhǔn shí dào dá nà lǐ jiù zuì hǎo mǎ shàng zǒu.

If you want to get there on time you would better leave now.

尽管下大雨，飞机准时起飞。

Jǐn guǎn xià dà yǔ, fēi jī zhǔn shí qǐ fēi.

Despite the heavy rain, the plane took off on time.

 

刚才 gāng cái

刚才 means just now. It comes to describe something that just happened a moment ago. It is used to sequence events in time, within a period of the past minutes. Notice that 刚才is placed before the verb in the sentence. For example:

他刚才吃了药,现在睡着了。

Tā gang cái chī le yào, xiàn zài shuì zháo le.

He just took the medicine and now he is asleep.

你刚才说什么了？

Nǐ gang cái shuō shén me le?

What did you just say?

他把刚才的事儿忘了。

Tā bǎ gang cái de shì er wàng le.

He forgot what had just happened.

我刚才和他谈话的那个男孩是我弟弟。

Wǒ gang cái hé tā tán huà dì nà gè nán hái shì wǒ dì dì.

The boy I talked to just now is my brother.

 

For more time phrases check out pervious posts:

Chinese Time phrases

Time Phrases in Chinese – Learn Chinese through the Song 『我是不是你最疼爱的人』

好好学习，天天向上！

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