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How to say “only after” with 才 (cái) in Chinese

Condition, + 才 (cái) + Result

才 (cái) — only after, not until

HSK 3Conditional Statements

Rule structure

只有 (zhǐyǒu)/必须 (bìxū)… 才 (cái)… means "only after/if… then…" and sets a necessary condition.

Examples

只有你道歉，我才原谅你。

Zhǐyǒu nǐ dàoqiàn, wǒ cái yuánliàng nǐ.

Only if you apologize will I forgive you.

你完成作业我才休息。

Nǐ wánchéng zuòyè wǒ cái xiūxī.

Only after you finish your homework will I rest.

你必须努力才能成功。

Nǐ bìxū nǔlì cáinéng chénggōng.

You must work hard, only then can you succeed.

Practice

Build the sentence

Drag the characters to put them in the correct order

Characters

Words from this rule

才

cái

Only then, just

只

zhī

Measure word for animals, etc.

有

yǒu

To have

你

nǐ

You

道歉

dàoqiàn

To apologize

我

wǒ

I, me

原谅

yuánliàng

To forgive, to pardon

完成

wánchéng

To complete

作业

zuòyè

Homework

休息

xiūxi

To rest, rest

必须

bìxū

Must, have to

努力

nǔlì

To work hard

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “only after, not until” in Chinese with 才?

Use the structure: Condition, + 才 (cái) + Result. For example: 只有你道歉，我才原谅你。 — “Only if you apologize will I forgive you”.

What is an example sentence with this grammar rule?

只有你道歉，我才原谅你。 — “Only if you apologize will I forgive you”.

Which HSK level includes this grammar rule?

This grammar rule is part of HSK 3.

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More HSK 3 grammar rules

只有 — only if

只有 (zhǐyǒu) + Condition, 才 (cái) + Result

只要 — as long as

只要 (zhǐyào) + Condition, 就 (jiù) + Result

一边 — doing two things at once

一边 (yìbiān) + Verb 1, 一边 (yìbiān) + Verb 2

如果…就 — if… then…

如果 (rúguǒ)……，就 (jiù)……

万 — big numbers

Number + 万 (wàn) / 亿 (yì)

地 — turning adjectives into adverbs

Adj. + 地 (de) + Verb

AA — reduplicating adjectives

AA / AABB

想 — as one likes

想 (xiǎng) + Verb Phrase with Question Word + 就 (jiù) + Same Verb Phrase