Meaning of 早就
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- already at an earlier time
How to use 早就
早就 goes before the verb and stresses that something happened long ago, often with 了 (le) at the end. It can sound a little impatient or matter-of-fact. Example: 我早就知道了。(Wǒ zǎo jiù zhīdào le.) I knew that long ago.
早 (zǎo) means early and 就 (jiù) means already or right then. Put them together and you get "it happened early, long before now," like saying "I knew that ages ago."
Common mistake: Learners often drop 了 at the end, saying 我早就吃饭 instead of 我早就吃饭了 (Wǒ zǎo jiù chī fàn le). Another error is putting 早就 after the verb, as in 我知道早就, when it must come before the verb.
早就 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
早 zǎo · early · 6 strokes
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就 jiù · in that case · 12 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 早就.
| 早上 | zǎoshang | early morning |
| 早饭 | zǎofàn | breakfast |
| 就要 | jiùyào | will; shall |
| 早餐 | zǎocān | breakfast |
| 早晨 | zǎochen | early morning; also pr. [zao3chen5] |
| 就是 | jiùshì | exactly; precisely; only; simply; just |
| 成就 | chéngjiù | accomplishment; success |
| 早已 | zǎoyǐ | for a long time; long since; (dialect) in the past |
| 就业 | jiùyè | to get a job; employment |
| 早期 | zǎoqī | early period; early phase; early stage |
| 就算 | jiùsuàn | (coll.) even if |
| 就是说 | jiùshìshuō | in other words; that is |
Questions about 早就
What does 早就 mean?
早就 (zǎo jiù) means "already at an earlier time".
How do you write 早就?
早就 is made of 2 characters: 早 (6 strokes), 就 (12 strokes). That is 18 strokes in total.
Is 早就 an HSK word?
Yes. 早就 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 早就 and 已经?
已经 (yǐjīng) simply means already. 早就 adds the idea that it happened a long time ago, earlier than the listener might think. 他已经走了 means he has left, while 他早就走了 means he left long ago.
Can 早就 be used in negative sentences?
Yes. You can say 我早就不想去了 (Wǒ zǎo jiù bù xiǎng qù le), I stopped wanting to go a long time ago. The negative word comes after 早就 and before the verb.