Expressing "all along" with "yizhi"

Expressing "all along" with 一直 (yīzhí) is not complicated. Character for character, it literally means "one straight," and is similar to saying "constantly."

Structure

This structure expresses the continuation of an action or a circumstance.

Subject + 一直 + Predicate

Examples

• 我 一直 很 忙。I am always very busy.
• 北京 的 空气 一直 很 不 好。The air in Beijing has been bad for a while.
• 她 一直 很 喜欢 上海。She has always liked Shanghai a lot.
• 我 一直 很 爱 你！I've always loved you a lot!
• 你 会 一直 学 中文 吗？Will you always continue studying Chinese?
• 我 一直 想 在 中国 做 老师。I've always wanted to be a teacher in China.
• 从 7:00am 到 10:00pm，我 一直 在 工作。From 7:00am till 10:00pm, I am continuously working.
• 18 岁 以后，他 一直 一个人 住。Since he was 18, he has always lived alone.
• 我 一直 在 现在 的 公司 里 工作。I've always worked at this company.
• 从 这里 一直 走，你 会 看 到 一 个 大 公园。From here keep walking straight, you will see a big park.

To break it down, 一直 (yīzhí) means "straight" or "constantly”. You use this word to express that you are doing something continuously, or continuously doing something since a certain time. This means that something occurred (or someone did an action) and it kept occurring, so 一直 (yīzhí) is used to express this continuous action. It’s important to note that this point in time doesn't necessarily have to be in the past, therefore 一直 (yīzhí) can be used to say something “will happen repeatedly” in the future.

See also

• "Always" with "zongshi"
• "Since the beginning" with "yixiang"
• Comparing "yizhi" and "yixiang"

Sources and further reading

Books

• 现代汉语八百词（增订本） (p. 610) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 308-9) →buy
• Chinese Grammar - Broken down into 100 items - Basic and Intermediate Levels (汉语语法百项讲练 - 初中级) (p. 123) →buy

Dictionaries

• 现代汉语词典（第5版） (p. 1601) →buy