紧接着

• Pinyin: jǐn jiē zhe
• Hanzi breakdown: 紧 = tight, close; 接 = 扌(hand) + 妾 — to connect, receive; 着 = verb suffix indicating continuation

Meaning

Immediately after; right after. Indicates that one action or event follows another with no gap.

A common adverbial phrase used to describe temporal succession where the second event occurs immediately or very shortly after the first. More emphatic than 接着 alone. Can be used at the beginning of a sentence or between two clauses.

Examples

1. 他刚说完这句话，紧接着就收到了公司的解聘通知。 He had just finished saying this when immediately after he received the company's termination notice.
2. 雷声刚响过，紧接着一场暴雨就倾盆而下。 The thunder had just sounded when immediately after a torrential rain began pouring down.
3. 主持人宣布完获奖名单，紧接着颁奖嘉宾就走上了舞台。 The host had just announced the list of winners when immediately after the award presenter walked onto the stage.

Usage Guide

Context: narrative, journalism, everyday

Tone: descriptive

Do Say

• 他吃完饭紧接着就去上班了。(He went to work immediately after eating.)
• 紧接着发生了一件更奇怪的事。(Right after that, something even stranger happened.)

Don't Say

• 紧接着我昨天 (Don't use 紧接着 to connect unrelated time references — it describes immediate succession within a single narrative flow, not general chronology)

Origin & History

Composed of 紧 (tight; close) + 接着 (following; then). Together expressing immediate succession with no interval.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal