Expressing "all along" with "yizhi"

Expressing "all along" with 一直 (yīzhí) is pretty easy. Character for character, it literally means "one straight," and it's sort of like 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 is always not good.
• 她 一直 很 喜欢 上海。She always liked Shanghai a lot.
• 我 一直 很 爱 你！I always loved you a lot!
• 你 会 一直 学 中文 吗？Have you always studied Chinese?
• 我 一直 想 在 中国 做 老师。I always wanted to go to China to be a teacher.
• 从 7:00am 到 10:00pm，我 一直 在 工作。From 7:00am till 10:00pm I always work.
• 18 岁 以后，他 一直 一个人 住。After turning 18, he always lived one person (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，十 五 分钟 后 你 会 看 到 一 个 大 公园。If you keep walking from here, 15 minutes later you will see a big park.

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） (pp. 610) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 308-9) →buy

Dictionaries

• 现代汉语词典（第5版） (pp. 1601) →buy