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早就 (zǎo jiù) — long ago; already (emphasizing that something happened much earlier than expected)

Definition

早就 (zǎojiù) means 'long ago / already' — emphasizes that something happened much earlier than the listener might assume, often carrying mild surprise or reproach that the other person didn't know sooner.

verb
long agoalready (emphasizing that something happened much earlier than expected)

Examples

  • 早就。
    Tā zǎo jiù zhī dào zhè jiàn shì le.
    He knew about this long ago.
  • 早就，。
    Wǒ zǎo jiù xiǎng xué shū fǎ le, dàn yì zhí méi shí jiān.
    I've wanted to learn calligraphy for a long time, but I never had the time.
  • 早就，？
    Tā men zǎo jiù jié hūn le, nǐ zěn me hái bù zhī dào?
    They got married long ago — how come you still don't know?

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.

早zǎoearly
就jiùalready

早 gives the sense of being early, and 就 adds the sense of already having happened.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
棗
棗zǎo早zǎo
Same sound today

The form 早 pairs 日 (sun) with 棗, which gives the sound; an earlier shape of 早 was a picture of an acorn.

Open 早 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

An older form paired 享, a temple, with 京, a tower, showing sacrifice at a high place; in 就 the temple part was dropped and a right part for going upward was added.

Open 就 →

Grammar

Appears in
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