一…就…: as soon as…

一 goes before the first action and 就 before the second: “as soon as… right away…”. One person or two can act: 他一回家就睡觉, 我一说他就懂了. 就 always sits right before the verb.

Examples

• 他一回家就睡觉。 Tā yì huíjiā jiù shuìjiào. As soon as he gets home, he goes to sleep.
• 孩子一哭就找妈妈。 Háizi yì kū jiù zhǎo māma. The moment the child cries, he looks for his mom.
• 我一看就懂了。 Wǒ yí kàn jiù dǒng le. I took one look and understood.

More in this chapter

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