他们都下去这么久了还没上来
“they've been down there for so long and still haven't come up.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
我就是担心
“I'm just worried—”
他们都 下去这么久 了 还没上来
“they've been down there for so long and still haven't come up.”
会不会 会不会 不会
“Could it be that they... Could it be that they... No, they won't!”
“Something must have gone terribly wrong down there; I fear they might have drowned.”
Chinese speakers often avoid uttering words of death or disaster directly, phrasing worst-case scenarios as an extended delay instead.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
for such a long time already
Use this structure to emphasize an excessive duration of time when waiting or observing an ongoing state.
still haven't come up
A directional complement construction commonly used to indicate someone has not yet surfaced or ascended.
Marks an excessive elapsed duration, underscoring the speaker's impatience and growing dread.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“We've been out here so long.”
“she might never step down.”
“No wonder it never floated up.”
“before showing himself?”
“wouldn't go that far.”
“anytime soon.”