Chinese word

立刻

Pronunciation

Pinyinlì kè

Meaning

  • adverbimmediately

Example

听到铃声，小明立刻收好书本。tīng dào líng shēng xiǎo míng lì kè shōu hǎo shū běn

When Xiaoming hears the bell, he immediately puts away his books.

Illustration for 立刻 (immediately)

More examples

听到爆炸声，大家立刻跑到楼下。tīng dào bào zhà shēng dà jiā lì kè pǎo dào lóu xià

When they heard the sound of an explosion, everyone immediately ran downstairs.

Core concept

An action or event crosses the tiny gap between now and happening.

Common phrases

  • 立刻停止lì kè tíng zhǐ

    stop immediately

  • 立刻去医院lì kè qù yī yuàn

    go to the hospital immediately

  • 立刻打电话lì kè dǎ diàn huà

    make a phone call immediately

Similar words

马上mǎ shàng: Says in a casual way that an action begins right away.
赶快gǎn kuài: Tells someone to act quickly so there is no delay.
尽快jǐn kuài: Requests that something be done in the shortest possible time.
立即lì jí: Expresses immediate action in a relatively formal or written style.

Definition in Chinese

在极短的时间内发生或被要求发生，表示动作或事情不迟延。zài jí duǎn de shí jiān nèi fā shēng huò bèi yāo qiú fā shēng biǎo shì dòng zuò huò shì qíng bù chí yán

Word origin

立 (lì, "stand") + 刻 (kè, "moment") combine to frame an action as taking place at the very next moment.

Usage tips

  • This word sets a much tighter time limit than English "soon," which can still leave room for waiting.

Opposites

Word lists with this word