Chinese word

老是

Pronunciation

Pinyinlǎo shì

Meaning

  • adverbalways

Example

他老是迟到。tā lǎo shì chí dào

He is always late.

Illustration for 老是 (always)

More examples

最近他老是生病。zuì jìn tā lǎo shì shēng bìng

He is always getting sick these days.

Core concept

Marks a pattern that keeps returning until it stands out to the speaker.

Common phrases

  • 老是迟到lǎo shì chí dào

    always be late

  • 老是生病lǎo shì shēng bìng

    always get sick

  • 老是忘记东西lǎo shì wàng jì dōng xī

    always forget things

Similar words

总是zǒng shì: Describes a strong tendency for the same action or situation to happen repeatedly.
经常jīng cháng: Describes an action or situation that occurs many times.
常常cháng cháng: Describes an action or situation that recurs often.
一直yì zhí: Describes an action or state that goes on continuously without a break.

Definition in Chinese

表示某种行为或情况一再发生，相当于“总是”，语气偏口语并常含轻微不满，可以用于陈述习惯也可用于抱怨。biǎo shì móu zhǒng xíng wéi huò qíng kuàng yí zài fā shēng xiāng dāng yú zǒng shì yǔ qì piān kóu yǔ bìng cháng hán qīng wēi bù mǎn ké yǐ yòng yú chén shù xí guàn yě kě yòng yú bào yuàn

Word origin

老是 (lǎoshì, "always") developed as a fixed colloquial adverb, with 老 (lǎo, "old") extending toward the sense of continuing and 是 (shì, "be") retained in the combination.

Usage tips

  • Its usual position is before the verb or state it describes, so the word order in the example is natural Chinese.

Other meanings

  • repeatedlyadverb
  • oftenadverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word