Expressing "all at once" with "yixiazi"

一下子 (yīxiàzi) can be used as an adverb, meaning "all at once". It has to come at the beginning of the sentence.

Structure

一下子 (yīxiàzi) is a very informal expression to describe how fast things happened or changed for some reason. In colloquial Chinese, you can also say "一下".

Subj. + 一下子 + Verb + 了

Subj. + 一下子 + 就 + Verb + 了

Examples

• 她 下楼 的时候 不 小心，一下子 摔倒 了。Tā xià lóu de shíhòu bù xiǎoxīn, yīxiàzi shuāidǎo le. She wasn't careful going down the stairs, and suddenly fell.
• 她 太 紧张 了，一下子 想 不 起来 了。Tā tài jǐnzhāng le, yīxiàzi xiǎng bù qǐlái le. She was too nervous to remember it right then.
• 考 完 试 以后，他 一下子 放松 了 很 多。Kǎo wán shì yǐhòu, tā yīxiàzi fàngsōng le hěnduō. After he finished the exam, he immediately relaxed a lot.
• 他 是 最 高 的，我 一下子 就 看到 他 了。Tā shì zuì gāo de, wǒ yīxiàzi jiù kàndào le. He is the tallest. I spotted him right away.
• 听 他 说 完，我 一下子 就 明白 了。Tīng tā shuō wán, wǒ yīxiàzi jiù míngbái le . After hearing him out, I understood everything all at once.

See also

• Verb reduplication with yi
• Verb reduplication

Sources and further reading

• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (p. 126) →buy
• 40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (基础汉语40课上册） (p. 206)→buy