可惜,我们来到的时候,火车已经十五分钟以前走了。

Unfortunately, by the time we got there the train had been gone for fifteen minutes.

Source: Tatoeba

Sentence Composition

1 可惜
  1. it is a pity
  2. what a pity
  3. unfortunately
2 我们 men we; us; ourselves; our
3 来到 láidào to arrive; to come
=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
=4 a taxi; a cab (abbr. for 的士 shì)
=4 really and truly
=4 (bound form) bull's-eye; target
5 时候 shíhou
  1. time
  2. length of time
  3. moment
  4. period
6 火车 huǒchē train

classifiers: , , ,

=7 已经 jīng already
=7 已经 jìng already
8 十五 shí
  1. fifteen
  2. 15
9 分钟 fēnzhōng minute
10 以前 qián
  1. before
  2. formerly
  3. previous
  4. ago
11 zǒu
  1. to walk
  2. to go
  3. to run
  4. to move (of vehicle)
  5. to visit
  6. to leave
  7. to go away
  8. to die (euph.)
  9. from
  10. through
  11. away (in compound verbs, such as 撤走 chèzǒu)
  12. to change (shape, form, meaning)
=12 le
  1. (completed action marker)
  2. (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now)
  3. (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)
=12 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)
=12 liǎo
  1. (of eyes) bright
  2. clear-sighted
  3. to understand clearly
=12 liào unofficial variant of liào