一下子

yíxiàzi

adverb #4,858

Meanings

Literally 'in one go' - emphasizes suddenness or speed

HSK 3

他一下子就明白了。

Tā yíxiàzi jiù míngbai le.

He understood all at once.

HSK 3

天气一下子变冷了。

Tiānqì yíxiàzi biàn lěng le.

The weather suddenly turned cold.

HSK 5

我一下子记不住这么多单词。

Wǒ yíxiàzi jì búzhù zhème duō dāncí.

I can't remember so many words all at once.

usage

一下子 emphasizes that something happens suddenly or all at once. Compare with 一下, which means 'briefly' or 'a little' and is much softer.

mistakes

Don't confuse 一下子 (suddenly, all at once) with 一下 (a bit, briefly). 看一下 = take a quick look; 一下子看完 = finished reading all at once.

一 yī

下 xià

子 zǐ