這個工人本來應該在中午十二點到達, 但他被交通堵塞困住了幾個小時。

The handyman was supposed to arrive at twelve noon, but got stuck in a traffic jam for a few hours.

Source: Tatoeba

Sentence Composition

1 這個 zhège
  1. (pronoun) this
  2. (adjective) this
2 工人 gōngrén worker

classifiers: ,

3 本來 běnlái
  1. original
  2. originally
  3. at first
  4. it goes without saying
  5. of course
4 應該 yīnggāi ought to; should; must
5 zài
  1. to exist; to be alive
  2. (of sb or sth) to be (located) at
  3. (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)
6 中午 zhōng
  1. noon
  2. midday

classifier:

7 十二點 shí'èrdiǎn twelve o'clock
8 到達 dào to reach; to arrive
9 dàn
  1. but; yet; however; still
  2. merely; only; just
10
  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)
=11 bèi
  1. quilt
  2. to cover (with)
  3. (literary) to suffer (a misfortune)
  4. used to indicate passive voice (placed before the doer of the action like "by" in English passive-voice sentences, or, if the doer is not mentioned, before the verb)
  5. (since c. 2009) (sarcastic or jocular) used to indicate that the following word should be regarded as being in air quotes (as in 被旅游 bèilu:yóu to "go on a trip")
=11
  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of (“to cover oneself; to scatter”)
  2. alternative form of (“to cover oneself; to scatter”)
=11
  1. alternative form of (bǐ, “that”)
  2. alternative form of (bì, “wig”)
=11 alternative form of
12 交通堵塞 jiāotōng road congestion; traffic jam
13 困住 kùnzhù to trap; to beleaguer
=14 le
  1. (completed action marker)
  2. (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now)
  3. (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)
=14 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)
=14 liǎo
  1. (of eyes) bright
  2. clear-sighted
  3. to understand clearly
=14 liào unofficial variant of liào
=15 幾個 ge
  1. a few
  2. several
  3. how many
=15 幾個
  1. a few; several; some; a handful
  2. how many
16 小時 xiǎoshí hour

classifier: