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 was not so careful that she fell when she went downstairs all at once.
• 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 all at once.
• 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 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 saw him all at once.
• 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 it 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