Breakdown of tā xiān shàng lóushàng de xǐshǒujiān, zài xiàlái gēn wǒ yìqǐ jìxù gòuwù.
她tā
she
我wǒ
me
一起yìqǐ
together
跟gēn
with
Questions & Answers about tā xiān shàng lóushàng de xǐshǒujiān, zài xiàlái gēn wǒ yìqǐ jìxù gòuwù.
What do 先 and 再 do in this sentence? Are they like “first” and “then”?
Yes. 先 and 再 form a very common pattern:
- 先 A，再 B = first A, then B
In your sentence:
- 先上楼上的洗手间 – first go to the bathroom upstairs
- 再下来跟我一起继续购物 – then come back down and continue shopping with me
Notes:
- 先 and 再 are adverbs placed before the verb they modify (上, 下来 here).
- You could also say 先……然后……, where 然后 is another “then / afterwards”.
- You normally use both parts together; just 先 alone would sound like you’re only talking about the first step without mentioning what comes next.
Why do we have both 上 and 楼上? Isn’t that like saying “go up upstairs”?
It looks redundant in English, but in Chinese the roles are different:
- 上 (shàng) is the verb: “to go up / go to (a place, often upward)”
- 楼上 (lóushàng) is the location: “upstairs”
The structure is:
- 上 + 楼上的洗手间 = go (up) to the upstairs bathroom
You could think of it as:
- 上 = “go to”
- 楼上的洗手间 = “the bathroom upstairs”
Natural alternatives: