早已 meaning in English

zǎoyǐ

for a long time; long since; (dialect) in the past

HSK 3adverb9 strokes

Meaning of 早已

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

zǎoyǐ

for a long time; long since
(dialect) in the past

How to use 早已

早已 is a written or formal adverb that goes before the verb to stress that something happened long before now. It often appears with 了 at the end of the sentence. Example: 他早已离开了北京。(Tā zǎoyǐ líkāi le Běijīng.) He left Beijing long ago.

早 (zǎo) means early and 已 (yǐ) means already, as in 已经 (yǐjīng). Put them together and you get something that already happened early on, so it was done long ago.

Common mistake: Learners often write 早已经 because they think of 已经 (yǐjīng), but 早已 already contains that meaning, so just say 早已 or 早就. Also be careful not to confuse 已 (yǐ) with the similar-looking 己 (jǐ, self) or 巳 (sì).

早已 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

这zhè种zhǒng方fāng法fǎ早zǎo已yǐ过guò时shí了le。

Such a method is out of date.

玛mǎ丽lì早zǎo已yǐ出chū发fā旅lǚ行xíng去qù了le。

Mary has already left on her trip.

如rú果guǒ你nǐ把bǎ你nǐ抱bào怨yuàn的de时shí间jiān用yòng在zài练liàn习xí篮lán球qiú上shàng，你nǐ或huò许xǔ早zǎo已yǐ不bù必bì抱bào怨yuàn。

If you used the time you spent complaining practicing your basketball, then maybe you would have stopped complaining a long time ago.

玛mǎ丽lì早zǎo已yǐ变biàn得de太tài虚xū弱ruò憔qiáo悴cuì，似sì乎hū已yǐ经jīng半bàn截jié入rù土tǔ。

Mary had become so frail and gaunt that it seemed she already had one foot in the grave.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

早 zǎo · early · 6 strokes

已 yǐ · already · 3 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 早已.

早上	zǎoshang	early morning
早饭	zǎofàn	breakfast
已经	yǐjīng	already
早就	zǎo jiù	already at an earlier time
早餐	zǎocān	breakfast
早晨	zǎochen	early morning; also pr. [zao3chen5]
早期	zǎoqī	early period; early phase; early stage
早晚	zǎowǎn	morning and evening; (in reference to sth that is bound to happen) sooner or later; one of
而已	éryǐ	that's all; nothing more
迟早	chízǎo	sooner or later
一早	yīzǎo	early in the morning; at dawn
一大早	yīdàzǎo	at dawn; at first light

Questions about 早已

What does 早已 mean?

早已 (zǎoyǐ) means "for a long time; long since; (dialect) in the past" and is used as a adverb.

How do you write 早已?

早已 is made of 2 characters: 早 (6 strokes), 已 (3 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.

Is 早已 an HSK word?

Yes. 早已 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 早已 and 早就?

Both mean something happened long ago. 早就 (zǎo jiù) is more common in everyday speech, while 早已 sounds more written and formal.

Can 早已 be used with negative sentences?

Yes. You can say 早已不 or 早已没有 to show that something stopped long ago, for example 我早已不住在那里了 (Wǒ zǎoyǐ bú zhù zài nàlǐ le), I have long since stopped living there.