# 他吃了饭后三个小时才去睡觉



## L3P

Hello!

Is my interpretation of the sentence 他吃了饭后三个小时才去睡觉 right: 'He went to bed only three hours after the mealtime'?



Thank you.


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## fyl

Is it 就 or 才? The sentence in the title is different from the one in your post.

就 would mean 三个小时 is so short, he sleeps so early.
才 would mean 三个小时 is so long, he sleeps so late.


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## L3P

Sorry,it`s 才. What confused me was that there was no 的 after 后,like in 到北京后的三天 'Three days after arriving in Beijing'.
Should it be 他吃了饭后三个小时 / 才去睡觉 or 他吃了饭后 / 三个小时才去睡觉?


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## Phoebe_Teng

L3P said:


> Sorry,it`s 才. What confused me was that there was no 的 after 后,like in 到北京后的三天 'Three days after arriving in Beijing'.
> Should it be 他吃了饭后三个小时 / 才去睡觉 or 他吃了饭后 / 三个小时才去睡觉?


Hi,
In my opinion, all your questions are about time.
他吃了饭后三个小时 / 才去睡觉: In this sentence, writer want to emphasize the time (the moment) when he went to bed.
到北京后的三天，他一直住在这家旅馆: However, in this sentence, writer would like to show you what he has done in these three days. 到北京后的 is only a phrase to describe 三天. Usually, phrase before 的 is used to describe the noun after 的.


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## fyl

L3P said:


> Sorry,it`s 才. What confused me was that there was no 的 after 后,like in 到北京后的三天 'Three days after arriving in Beijing'.
> Should it be 他吃了饭后三个小时 / 才去睡觉 or 他吃了饭后 / 三个小时才去睡觉?


You can't insert 的 in 他吃了饭后三个小时才去睡觉.
到北京后的三天 means "the 3 days after arriving in Beijing", not "after 3 days after arriving in Beijing".
他吃了饭后三个小时才去睡觉 means "after 3 hours after dinner", it's not about the 3 hours after dinner.
I'm not sure how to split the phrase (maybe 他吃了饭后/三个小时/才去睡觉??).


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## Mamanunique

If you want to translate the Chinese one into English, you may use "not until".


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## L3P

Thanks,everyone for your help! After your explanations I have no problem with 到北京后的三天.
But I still have some difficulty understanding 他吃了饭后三个小时才去睡觉. That`s why I`d like to ask one more question,if you don`t mind,which hopefully will help me out. How do you say 'she saw him only in 3 days after arriving in Beijing'?
My attempt: 到北京后三天她才看见他.  My problem is that I can`t figure out what part of the sentence does 三个小时 refer in 他吃了饭后三个小时才去睡觉. Sorry,most of Chinese is more or less easy to take in, but there is some stuff that takes days to sink in 
By the way 他吃了饭后三个小时才去睡觉 means 'She only went to bed 3 hours after dinner',
but I wonder how you`d say 'She only went to bed 3 hours after she had dinner for half an hour'? My attempt: 他吃了半个小时的饭一后三个小时才去睡觉


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## brofeelgood

Mate, don't feel awkward about asking at all. 

Would you understand it better if it's written as
- 他吃了饭三个小时后才去睡觉 (后,以后,之后)

A similar construction for "she saw him only in 3 days after arriving in Beijing" would be
- 她到北京三天后才见到他


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## L3P

brofeelgood said:


> Mate, don't feel awkward about asking at all.
> 
> Would you understand it better if it's written as
> - 他吃了饭三个小时后才去睡觉 (后,以后,之后)
> 
> A similar construction for "she saw him only in 3 days after arriving in Beijing" would be
> - 她到北京三天后才见到他



Thanks,brofeelgood!


三个小时（一）后 means ‘three hours later’ or ‘in three hours (`time)’, so 他吃了饭,三个小时后才去睡觉 is no problem to me. So,if 
三个小时后 = 后三个小时,then I got it. Same story with 她到了北京,三天后才见到他 = 她到了北京,后三天才见到他.
But for some reason I have a bad feeling that it`s not like that.


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## Mamanunique

三小时后 after three hours     
三小时后*才 * only after three hours
三天后  after three days        
三天后*才*  only after three days

your original translation "He went to bed only three hours after the mealtime." means 他吃完饭之后仅仅过了三个小时就去睡觉了.

他吃了饭后三个小时才去睡觉     Not until three hours after the meal did he go to bed.


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## L3P

Mamanunique said:


> 他吃完饭之后仅仅过了三个小时就去睡觉了



Thanks a lot,Mamanunique! I guess 他吃了饭后三个小时才去睡觉  is (or could be) just a short version of  他吃了饭后,过了三个小时才去睡觉 or  他吃完饭之后,仅仅过了三个小时就去睡觉了.


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## Mamanunique

L3P said:


> 他吃了饭后,过了三个小时才去睡觉 or 他吃完饭之后,仅仅过了三个小时就去睡觉了.


They are different.
*仅仅过了*三个小时后*就* or *才*过了三个小时*就* means “only three hours after" which is your original words. (not more than three hours)
三个小时后*才* means "only after three hours". (not earlier than the time that is three hours from the time he finished his meal)


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## SuperXW

L3P said:


> I guess 他吃了饭后三个小时才去睡觉  is (or could be) just a short version of  他吃了饭后,过了三个小时才去睡觉 or  他吃完饭之后,仅仅过了三个小时就去睡觉了.


他吃了饭后三个小时才去睡觉 / 他吃了饭后,过了三个小时才去睡觉:
Implies 3 hours is long. He should have gone to bed earlier.
他吃完饭之后,仅仅过了三个小时就去睡觉了:
Implies 3 hours is short. He could have gone to bed later.

Oh, I'm just repeating post#2.


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## L3P

谢谢大家回复！


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