当初

當初

dāngchū

noun HSK 3 #2,902

Meanings

Dāngchū wǒ bù yīnggāi dāying tā.

I shouldn't have agreed to him back then.

Dāngchū nǐ wèishénme xuǎnzé zhège zhuānyè?

Why did you choose this major back then?

Rúguǒ dāngchū nǔlì yīdiǎn jiù hǎo le.

If only I had worked harder back then.

usage

当初 often carries a sense of regret or reflection — looking back at a past decision.

mistakes

当初 refers to the beginning of a specific past situation. Don't confuse with 以前 (yǐqián) which is more general.

当 dāng

初 chū