The structure 一…就…

forms a complex sentence and indicates that as soon as one thing happens, then another thing happens immediately afterwards.

Pay attention

We can use this structure in all tenses.

Examples

一到家就打电话

to call as soon as get home

yī dàojiā jiù dǎ diànhuà

If there is only one subject in this type of sentence, we can put it either before “一” or before “就”. If there are two subjects, we should put the first subject before “一” and put the second subject before “就”.

Scheme

subject 1

一

action 1

(subject 2)

就

action 2

Examples

我一到家就给你打电话

I'll call you as soon as I get home

wǒ yī dàojiā jiù gěi nǐ dǎ diànhuà

老板一解释，我就明白了

Once the boss explained, I understood

lǎobǎn yī jiěshì, wǒ jiù míngbai le

We often use the preposition 把

with the structure 一…就… .

Examples

我把窗户一开，教室里就有了花的味道

Once I opened the window, the classroom smelled like flowers

wǒ bǎ chuānghu yì kāi, jiàoshì lǐ jiù yǒu le huā de wèidao

我把手机一放，它就顶顶作声了

As soon as I put the phone down, it rang immediately

wǒ bǎ shǒujī yí fàng, tā jiù dǐng dǐng zuò shēng le

We also can use the structure 一...就... to express the relationship between the reason and the result. Such sentences mostly are used to express repetitive actions. We can translate this structure as: “every time there is a certain condition, it will result in a certain event”.

Examples

我一看见血就难受

Once I see blood, I feel sick

wǒ yī kànjiàn xuè jiù nánshòu

一按就疼

It hurts when pressed

yī àn jiù téng

Learn more

Sentences with 把 The conjunctive adverb 便

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