消防員還沒有趕到，那兩幢大廈就已經燒成灰燼了。

Before the firemen were able to arrive, both buildings burned down.

Source: Tatoeba

Sentence Composition

1 消防員 xiāofángyuán firefighter; fireman
2 還沒 háiméi not yet
=3 有 yǒu
  1. to have; there is
  2. (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意 yǒuyì intentional)
=3 有 yòu
  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 又 (yòu, “again”)
  2. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 又 (yòu, “and; with a remainder of (when dividing an integer by ten)”)
  3. alternative form of 又 (yòu, “again”)
  4. alternative form of 又 (yòu, “and; with a remainder of (when dividing an integer by ten)”)
4 趕到 gǎndào to hurry (to some place)
=5 那 Nā surname Na
=5 那 Nuó surname Nuo
=5 那 nǎ variant of 哪 nǎ
=5 那 nà
  1. (specifier) that; the; those (colloquial pr. nèi)
  2. (pronoun) that (referring to persons, things or situations)
  3. then (in that case)
=5 那 nuó
  1. (archaic) many
  2. beautiful
  3. how
  4. old variant of 挪 nuó
=6 兩 liǎng
  1. two
  2. both
  3. some
  4. a few
  5. tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤 jīn (old)
=6 兩 liàng Original form of 輛／辆 (liàng).
=7 幢 chuáng banner; pennant (in ancient China)
=7 幢 zhuàng
  1. classifier for buildings (Taiwan pr. chuáng)
  2. (archaic) curtain hung over boat or carriage windows
8 大廈 dàshà (used in the names of grand buildings such as 百老汇大厦 Broadway Mansions (in Shanghai) or 帝国大厦 Empire State Building etc)
9 就 jiù
  1. (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then
  2. (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after
  3. (same as 就是 jiùshì) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precisely; exactly
  4. only; as little as
  5. as much as; as many as
  6. to approach; to move towards
  7. to undertake; to engage in
  8. (often followed by 着 zhe) taking advantage of
  9. (of food) to go with
  10. with regard to; concerning
  11. (pattern: 就 jiù ... 也 yě ...) even if ... still ...
  12. (pattern: 不 bù ... 就 jiù ...) if not ... then must be ...
10 已經 yǐjīng already
11 燒 shāo
  1. to burn
  2. to cook
  3. to stew
  4. to bake
  5. to roast
  6. to heat
  7. to boil (tea, water etc)
  8. fever
  9. to run a temperature
  10. (coll.) to let things go to one's head
=12 成 Chéng
  1. surname Cheng
  2. short name for Chengdu 成都 Chéngdū
=12 成 chéng
  1. to succeed
  2. to finish
  3. to complete
  4. to accomplish
  5. to become
  6. to turn into
  7. to be all right
  8. OK!
  9. one tenth
13 灰燼 huījìn ashes
=14 了 le
  1. (completed action marker)
  2. (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now)
  3. (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)
=14 了 liǎo
  1. to finish
  2. (used with 得 dé or 不 bù after a verb to express (im)possibility, as in 忘不了 wàngbuliǎo "cannot forget")
  3. (literary) (usually followed by a negative such as 无 wú or 不 bù) completely (not); entirely (not); (not) in the least
  4. to understand clearly (variant of 了 liǎo)
=14 了 liǎo
  1. (of eyes) bright
  2. clear-sighted
  3. to understand clearly
=14 了 liào unofficial variant of 瞭 liào