AdverbsHSK 5
Expressing wasted efforts with 白
The adverb 白, placed before a verb followed by 了, expresses that the action was done in vain or that the effort was wasted. It conveys a sense of futility and disappointment, so use it only when someone's effort yielded no useful result.
Structure
白 + Verb + 了
Examples
- 白花了一百块钱，这件衣服不能穿。Bái huā le yībǎi kuài qián, zhè jiàn yīfu bù néng chuān.I just wasted a hundred kuai. I can't even wear these clothes.
- 他不回来吃饭了？！我这些菜白做了。Tā bù huílái chīfàn le?! Wǒ zhèxiē cài bái zuò le.He's not coming back to eat?! I made all this food for nothing.
- 你一句汉语都不会说，白学了这么长时间。Nǐ yījù Hànyǔ dōu bù huì shuō, bái xué le zhème cháng shíjiān.You can't speak even one sentence in Chinese! All that time studying was a waste.
- 我去的时候他不在家，所以我白跑了一趟。Wǒ qù de shíhou tā bù zài jiā, suǒyǐ wǒ bái pǎo le yī tàng.He wasn't home when I got there, so I wasted all of that time going over there.
- 不好意思，让你白忙了一个早上，我们老板今天来不了了。Bù hǎoyìsi, ràng nǐ bái máng le yī gè zǎoshang, wǒmen lǎobǎn jīntiān lái buliǎo le.Sorry to make you work this whole morning for nothing. Our boss just said that he couldn't come today.