▎一口氣, yìkǒuqì, in one breath, without interruption

 

Function The phrase 一口氣 literally means ‘in one breath’, to accomplish an entire task without interruption.

1 今天我一口氣游了兩千公尺。

Jīntiān wǒ yìkǒuqì yóule liǎngqiān gōngchǐ.

Today I swam 2,000 meters in one go.

2 他可以一口氣喝完一大杯可樂。

Tā kěyǐ yìkǒuqì hēwán yí dà bēi kělè.

He can down an entire large Coke in one gulp.

3 她這學期一口氣修了28個學分。我看她是瘋了。

Tā zhè xuéqí yìkǒuqì xiūle 28 ge xuéfēn. Wǒ kàn tā shì fēng le.

She did 28 credits all in one term. She’s nuts.

4 這位舞者一口氣跳了一個鐘頭，都沒休息。

Zhè wèi wǔzhě yìkǒuqì tiàole yí ge zhōngtóu, dōu méi xiūxí.

This dancer danced for an hour straight without taking a break.

5 我爺爺一口氣把他從年輕的時候到現在的事情都說給我聽。聽得我差一點睡著。

Wǒ yéye yìkǒuqì bǎ tā cóng niánqīng de shíhòu dào xiànzài de shìqíng dōu shuō gěi wǒ tīng. Tīng de wǒ chàyìdiǎn shuìzháo.

My grandpa gave me the entire story of his life from start to finish all in one go, and it nearly put me to sleep.