我正要出門的時候,電話就響起了。

I was about to go out when the phone rang.

Source: Tatoeba

Sentence Composition

1
  1. I
  2. me
  3. my
2 正要 zhèngyào
  1. to be just about to
  2. to be on the point of
3 出門 chūmén
  1. to go out
  2. to leave home
  3. to go on a journey
  4. away from home
  5. (of a woman) to get married
=4 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 跑堂兒的 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
=4 a taxi; a cab (abbr. for 的士 shì)
=4 really and truly
=4 (bound form) bull's-eye; target
5 時候 shíhou
  1. time
  2. length of time
  3. moment
  4. period
6 電話 diànhuà
  1. telephone
  2. phone call
  3. phone number

classifiers: ,

7 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 zhe) taking advantage of
  9. (of food) to go with
  10. with regard to; concerning
  11. (pattern: jiù ... ...) even if ... still ...
  12. (pattern: ... jiù ...) if not ... then must be ...
8 響起 xiǎng
  1. (of a sound) to come forth
  2. (of a sound source) to ring out
  3. to sound
  4. to go off
=9 le
  1. (completed action marker)
  2. (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now)
  3. (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)
=9 liǎo
  1. to finish
  2. (used with or after a verb to express (im)possibility, as in 忘不了 wàngbuliǎo "cannot forget")
  3. (literary) (usually followed by a negative such as or ) completely (not); entirely (not); (not) in the least
  4. to understand clearly (variant of liǎo)
=9 liǎo
  1. (of eyes) bright
  2. clear-sighted
  3. to understand clearly
=9 liào unofficial variant of liào