他不在的時候每一件事都出錯了。

Everything chose to go wrong during his absence.

Source: Tatoeba

Sentence Composition

1
  1. (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his
  2. (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日 and 他人 rén)
2 不在 zài
  1. not to be present
  2. to be out
  3. (euphemism) to pass away
  4. to be deceased
=3 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
=3 a taxi; a cab (abbr. for 的士 shì)
=3 really and truly
=3 (bound form) bull's-eye; target
4 時候 shíhou
  1. time
  2. length of time
  3. moment
  4. period
5 měi
  1. each
  2. every
6
  1. one
  2. single
  3. a (article)
  4. as soon as
  5. entire; whole; all; throughout
  6. "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1)
  7. also pr. yāo for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit
7 jiàn
  1. item
  2. component
  3. classifier for events, things, clothes etc
=8 shì
  1. matter
  2. thing
  3. item
  4. work
  5. affair

classifiers: , ,

=8
  1. alternative form of (zì, “to establish”)
  2. alternative form of (zì, “to stab”)
=9 surname Du
=9 dōu
  1. all; both; entirely
  2. (used for emphasis) even
  3. already
  4. (not) at all
=9
  1. capital city
  2. metropolis
10 出錯 chūcuò
  1. to make a mistake
  2. error
=11 le
  1. (completed action marker)
  2. (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now)
  3. (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)
=11 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)
=11 liǎo
  1. (of eyes) bright
  2. clear-sighted
  3. to understand clearly
=11 liào unofficial variant of liào