Chinese word

迟早

Pronunciation

Pinyinchí zǎo

Meaning

  • adverbeventually

Example

这件事迟早要有人负责。zhè jiàn shì chí zǎo yào yǒu rén fù zé

Someone will eventually have to take responsibility for this.

Illustration for 迟早 (eventually)

More examples

机会迟早会到来。jī huì chí zǎo huì dào lái

The opportunity will eventually come.

Core concept

Time may arrive early or late, but the same result is still bound to arrive.

Common phrases

  • 迟早会chí zǎo huì

    will eventually

  • 迟早要chí zǎo yào

    will eventually have to

  • 迟早会发生chí zǎo huì fā shēng

    will eventually happen

Similar words

早晚záo wǎn: Says an event will happen at some point, whether that time comes early or late.
终究zhōng jiū: Shows that a result comes after a long process or passage of time.
最终zuì zhōng: Refers to the final result or conclusion reached at the end of a process.

Definition in Chinese

表示某事无论早晚都会发生，强调结果的必然性而不指明具体发生时间。biǎo shì mǒu shì wú lùn záo wǎn dū huì fā shēng qiáng diào jié guǒ de bì rán xìng ér bù zhǐ míng jù tǐ fā shēng shí jiān

Word origin

The compound 迟 (chí, "late") + 早 (zǎo, "early") gives 迟早 (chízǎo, "sooner or later") a range of possible times while keeping the result certain.

Usage tips

  • In ordinary Chinese word order, this adverb comes before the action or event it predicts, framing the whole event rather than modifying only a nearby time expression.

Opposites

Word lists with this word