只是因为他缺课了很长一段时间
“"It was following a long absence from school”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
变得更糟了
“Ailsa's behavior towards him following the death of his brother became worse."”
只是因为 他缺课 了 很长一段 时间
“"It was following a long absence from school”
警方到访时
“when the police visited the property”
Direct spoken expression in this communicative setting.
Using '只是' (merely/just) serves to frame an alarming situation as having a mundane, factual cause.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
simply because / merely due to
Use this structure to narrow down a cause or downplay unnecessary speculation.
a long period of time
A common temporal chunk used to describe extended durations in both spoken and written Chinese.
Marks the completion or realization of the extended absence up to that point.
