我們的樂隊剛起步時,只有小城市里的小俱樂部僱我們。

When we started out, our band could only find small clubs in small cities that would hire us.

Source: Tatoeba

Sentence Composition

1 我們 men we; us; ourselves; our
=2 de
  1. of; ~'s (possessive particle)
  2. (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun)
  3. (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis)
  4. (used after a noun, verb or adjective to form a nominal expression, as in 皮革的 de "one made of leather" or 跑堂儿的 pǎotángrde "a waiter (literally, one who runs back and forth in a restaurant)" or 新的 xīnde "new one")
  5. also pr. or di in poetry and songs
=2 a taxi; a cab (abbr. for 的士 shì)
=2 really and truly
=2 (bound form) bull's-eye; target
3 樂隊 yuèduì
  1. band
  2. pop group

classifier:

4 gāng
  1. hard
  2. firm
  3. strong
  4. just
  5. barely
  6. exactly
5 起步
  1. to set out
  2. to set in motion
  3. the start (of some activity)
=6 Shí surname Shi
=6 shí
  1. o'clock
  2. time
  3. when
  4. hour
  5. season
  6. period
7 只有 zhǐyǒu
  1. only have ...; there is only ...
  2. (used in combination with cái) it is only if ... (that one can ...) (as in 只有通过治疗才能痊愈 zhǐyǒutōngguòzhìliáocáinéngquán "the only way to cure it is with therapy")
  3. it is only (someone) who ... (as in 只有男性才有此需要 zhǐyǒunánxìngcáiyǒuyào "only men would have such a requirement")
  4. (used to express lack of alternatives) can only; have no choice but to (as in 只有屈服 zhǐyǒu "the only thing you can do is give in")
8 小城 xiǎochéng small town
9 市里 shì li (Chinese unit of length equal to 500 meters)
=10 de
  1. of; ~'s (possessive particle)
  2. (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun)
  3. (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis)
  4. (used after a noun, verb or adjective to form a nominal expression, as in 皮革的 de "one made of leather" or 跑堂儿的 pǎotángrde "a waiter (literally, one who runs back and forth in a restaurant)" or 新的 xīnde "new one")
  5. also pr. or di in poetry and songs
=10 a taxi; a cab (abbr. for 的士 shì)
=10 really and truly
=10 (bound form) bull's-eye; target
11 xiǎo
  1. small
  2. tiny
  3. few
  4. young
12 俱樂部 (loanword) club (the organization or its premises)
13 variant of
14 我們 men we; us; ourselves; our