一霎眼

yīshàyǎn

phrase

Meanings

1 in an instant
2 in the blink of an eye
3 suddenly

Characters

brief moment, instant

Examples

一霎眼,十年就过去了。

Yī shà yǎn, shí nián jiù guòqù le.

In the blink of an eye, ten years have gone by.

他一霎眼就消失在人群里。

Tā yī shà yǎn jiù xiāoshī zài rénqún lǐ.

In an instant he had vanished into the crowd.

Tips

memory

霎 (shà) means 'a brief moment' (think of a sudden rain shower 霎时间). Add 一 'one' and 眼 'eye' and you get 'one blink of the eye' — same image as the English idiom.

Stroke Order

一 yī

霎 shà

眼 yǎn