Conditional StatementsHSK 5
Expressing "only after" with 才
才 can be used to express that something will only happen after a certain condition is met. Place the condition before 才, often a phrase indicating time, effort, or money spent, and the result after 才. Be careful not to put 才 before the condition, as that would change the meaning to 'just' or 'only recently'.
Structure
⋯⋯ ，才 ⋯⋯
Examples
- 我花了八千块才买到了旅游的东西。Wǒ huā le bā qiān kuài cái mǎi dào le lǚyóu de dōngxi.Only after spending 8000 RMB was I able to buy all the things for the trip.
- 他用了很多年才原谅了他的妈妈。Tā yòng le hěn duō nián cái yuánliàng le tā de māma.Only after many years was he able to forgive his mom.
- 我去了三次北京才见到了那个客户。Wǒ qù le sān cì Běijīng cái jiàn dào le nàge kèhù.Only after making three trips to Beijing was I finally able to meet that client.
- 他找了好几个月才找到合适的房子。Tā zhǎo le hǎojǐ gè yuè cái zhǎodào héshì de fángzi.Only after searching for quite a few months was he able to find a suitable apartment.
- 小明花了很多心思才设计出了这张海报。Xiǎo Míng huā le hěn duō xīnsi cái shèjì chū le zhè zhāng hǎibào.Only after putting a lot of thought into it was Xiao Ming able to design this poster.