(dāng chū) - originally, back then, in the first place in Mandarin
dāngchūTraditional: 當初
Translation
originally, back then, in the first place
Word origin
当 (dāng, at, at the time of) plus 初 (chū, the beginning; 衤 cloth beside 刀 knife, since cutting the cloth is the first step in making a garment).
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 当 (dāng, at the time of) + 初 (chū, beginning)
Stroke order
当
初
Examples
。
Back then we did not know each other.
，。
Had I known it would be like this, I should not have come in the first place.
田。
Back then this was still farmland.
。
His original idea was very simple.
。
I still remember the way it was back then.
当初 (dāng chū) points back to how things were at the start, and it almost always does so with hindsight. It is the word for back then, when we knew less, and for in the first place, when the decision is now being second-guessed.
That backward glance is the whole point. 早知道... 当初就不该... is a fixed shape of regret, and 当初的想法 means the original idea, implicitly the one that has since changed. It sits before the subject or straight after it, like other time words.
The trap is treating it as a neutral synonym of 当时. 当时 simply means at that time and can appear in any cool narrative sentence; 当初 drags a judgement in with it. And it is not at first in a sequence either, which is 起初 or 一开始. If nobody is looking back and weighing anything up, 当初 is the wrong word.
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当初: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "当初" (originally, back then, in the first place): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 60.