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Lesson 2 – Advanced – The Difference Between “一会儿” and “不一会儿”

When studying Chinese, you may find that there are many similar words having different meanings or usages.

Here we have free Chinese lesson for students who want to study Chinese.
The difference between 一会儿 and 不一会儿.
1、 First let’s look at these following groups of sentences. 
① 别走啊,饭一会儿就好了。(bié zǒu ā , fàn yí huì ér jiù hǎo le.)
别走啊,不一会儿饭就好了。(bié zǒu ā , bù yí huì ér fàn jiù hǎo le.)

② 你急什么,他过几天就会回来的。(nǐ jí shén me , tā guò jǐ tiān jiù huì huí lái de.)
你急什么,他过不了几天就会回来的。(nǐ jí shén me , tā guò bù liǎo jǐ tiān jiù huì huí lái de.)

③ 一会儿,他的丈夫就追上来了。(yí huì ér , tā de zhàng fu jiù zhuī shàng lái le.)
不一会儿,他的丈夫就追上来了。(bù yí huì ér , tā de zhàng fu jiù zhuī shàng lái le.)

④ 急什么,再坐一会儿。(jí shén me , zài zuò yí huì ér)
急什么,再坐不一会儿。(jí shén me , zài zuò bù yí huì ér.)

⑤ 等了一会儿饭才做好。(děng le yí huì ér fàn cái zuò hǎo.)
等了不一会儿饭才做好。(děng le bù yí huì ér fàn cái zuò hǎo.)

⑥ 这件事过几天再讨论。(zhè jiàn shì guò jǐ tiān zài tǎo lùn.)
这件事过不了几天再讨论。(zhè jiàn shì guò bù liǎo jǐ tiān zài tǎo lùn.)
studying Chinese words by putting them in model sentence is a very good way. 
★ The following explanation can help you to study Chinese.

2、 一会儿can represent to objective quantity and subjective quantity; you can decide according to your own thoughts. For example, “一会儿” in the ① group: A. The time can be thought short,B. The time can be also thought long.

3、 不一会儿 only means subjective quantity, which expresses the attitudes and views of speaker.
“不一会儿” in ⑥ can’t be used to represent present or future tense.
“不一会儿” in ⑤ can’t be used together with “才”.
You can regard “不一会儿” as “不到一会儿”.

We also have exercise for free Chinese lesson. The following exercise can help you study Chinese well.
练习:
(1) Cloze:一会儿 vs 不一会儿(you can choose one of them or both)
1、 我家的网速 快, 慢。 (一会儿)
2、 ,那个西瓜就被他吃完了。(不一会儿)
3、 我才从学校回来,刚下车 ,还没到家呢。(一会儿)
4、 他洗完澡,又在门口等了 ,姐姐才回来。(一会儿)
5、 手术 就做完了。(不一会儿/ 一会儿)

(2)Substitution exercise for studying Chinese(Can一会儿 be replaced by一会儿? If not, please give your reasons.)
1、他每次和我打电话都要开一会儿玩笑。【不能;客观表达】
2、下午我睡了一会儿觉。【不能;客观表达】
3、那根蜡烛烧了一会儿,就变成蜡泪了。【可以】
4、我回到房间,一会儿饭菜就送来了。
5、他过了一会儿才下楼来。【不能;“不一会儿”不能和“才”一起用】

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