Tā zǒujìnlái de shíhou, dàjiā tūrán dōu xiào le.

he

Breakdown of Tā zǒujìnlái de shíhou, dàjiā tūrán dōu xiào le.

• 都dōu: all
• 了le: perfective particle

Questions & Answers about Tā zǒujìnlái de shíhou, dàjiā tūrán dōu xiào le.

What does 走进来 (zǒujìnlái) literally mean, and how is it built up?

走进来 is a compound directional verb made of:

• 走 – to walk
• 进 – to enter / go in
• 来 – come (toward the speaker or the current reference point)

Put together, 走进来 literally means “walk-enter-come (in)”, i.e. “to walk in (toward us / toward here)”.

So:

• 进来 = come in
• 走进来 = walk in (the manner of coming in is walking)

Why is there a 的 before 时候 in 他走进来的时候? What does that 的 do?

Here, 的 turns the preceding clause into something that modifies a noun, just like a relative clause in English.

• 他走进来 = he walks in
• 他走进来的时候 = the time *when he walked in*

So:

• …的
  • 时候 = “the time when …”
• Grammatically, 他走进来的 is an adjectival clause describing 时候 (time).

Could we also say 他走进来的时候 as 当他走进来时 or 他进来的时候? Is there any difference?