Basic Grammar: all 87 lessons free
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Time + 就 — As Early As That
时间副词「就」— 六点就起床了
我早上六点就起床了, 坐地铁半个小时就到了, 我马上就到: 就 after a time says it was early, quick or easy. The third 就 you own — the same word, in a hurry.
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Memory hook
Time + 就 + V (了) = as early as / as fast as that
Early, quick, easy
Five from the deck. Listen for how short the sentences feel — 就 does that.
Tap any line to hear it
That early, that fast这么早，这么快
No pressure — just making it stick.
我早上六点____起床了。
Wǒ zǎoshàng liùdiǎn ____ Qǐchuáng le.
I was up at six already.
You are two minutes away. Which reply is the natural one?
By metro it's only half an hour.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
我还有两分钟____到了。
Wǒ hái yǒu liǎngfēnzhōng ____ Dào le.
Two more minutes and I'm there.
Your turn — say it
我马上就到！
I'll be right there!
我的爸爸每天早上五点____起床了。
Wǒ de bàba měitiān zǎoshàng wǔdiǎn ____ Qǐchuáng le.
My dad is up at five every morning.
Finish each brisk sentence with the right piece.
Tap a word to fill the next gap; tap a filled sentence to clear it. Every word is used once.
Word bank
0/5Brisk mornings, in pictures看图说早
No pressure — just making it stick.
Four things from the deck's early mornings and quick trips. Match each picture, then add a 就 sentence.
Tap a picture, then choose its word. Picked wrong? Tap that picture and choose again. Match all the cards to finish.
Your turn — say it
我早上六点就起床了。
I was up at six already.
It's only a ten-minute walk.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
Your turn — say it
坐地铁半个小时就到了。
By metro it's only half an hour.
This lesson's characters
Three from the clock and the hurry: the minute, the clock itself, and the horse in 马上.
to divide; minute; cent
指a pointer
八 on top is two strokes pulling apart; 刀 below is the knife that does it. To divide — and the pieces you divide into: a minute is an hour cut into sixty (十分钟), a cent is a yuan cut into a hundred (一分钱), a mark on a test is 分 too. 分手, parting hands, is breaking up. 我还有两分钟就到了 — two slices of an hour.
bell; clock
形meaning + sound
Metal 钅 and 中 for the sound: a bronze bell, the thing that once told a town the hour. When clocks arrived they took the bell's name — 钟 is a clock, 分钟 a minute, 一点钟 one o'clock, 闹钟 the alarm that rings at six. 我早上六点就起床了 begins with a 闹钟.
horse
象drawn from life
A horse seen from the side: the head and mane on top, the legs reduced to a single stroke and the tail curling away. The traditional 馬 still shows four legs as four dots. 马上, 'on the horse', is immediately — the fastest thing an ancient messenger could be. It also lends its sound to 妈, 吗 and 骂, which you met in your first pinyin week. 我马上就到！
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Everything worth taking away. Tap any line to hear it.
Words 生词
Characters 汉字
Before you go课后回顾
- Count your 就s now: 就来, 就吃吧, 六点就起床了 — right away, so-then, as-early-as. One character, and each time the sound of something quick.
- Send 我马上就到 today to someone who is waiting — and then actually hurry. The sentence is a promise.
- Tell one early-riser story in Chinese — 我爸爸每天五点就起床了 — with the pride that sentence deserves.