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不久 (bù jiǔ) — (adjective) short; not long (in time)

Definition

不久 (bùjiǔ) describes a short time span — 'soon' or 'not long (after)'. Unlike 快 (adverb 'soon'), it modifies a time span rather than a verb, and is more formal than 短 ('brief').

adjective
shortnot long (in time)

Examples

  • 不久。
    Tā bù jiǔ jiù lái.
    He will come soon.
  • 不久。
    Wǒ bú bù jiǔ jiù qù xué xiào.
    I will go to school soon.
  • 不久。
    Diàn yǐng bù jiǔ jiù kāi shǐ.
    The movie will start soon.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

不bùnot
久jiǔlong time

“bu” negates “jiu” (long time), so “不久” means not long after.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

久 likely came from a simple drawing of an arrow tip.

Open 久 →
Appears in
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