Set phrase “不一会儿”
In Chinese “不一会儿” (bù yíhuìr) refers to a very short stretch of time.
In a sentence it usually works as an adverbial, and it belongs mostly to spoken Chinese.
In English it usually comes out as:
before long
in no time
after a moment
Core Meaning
不一会儿
Meaning:
after a very short time
or
before long
Examples
难过的事情不一会儿就忘了
Structure
不一会儿 + 就 + 忘了
before long + right then + forgot
难过的事情 — upsetting things
不一会儿 — before long
就忘了 — were forgotten
Here 不一会儿 shows how little time passed before they were forgotten.
不一会儿，张校长就来了
Structure
不一会儿 + 张校长 + 就来了
before long + Principal Zhang + arrived
不一会儿 — before long / in no time
张校长 — Principal Zhang
就来了 — arrived
两个小时看起来长，但是不一会儿就过去了
Structure
但是 + 不一会儿 + 就过去了
but + before long + it was over
两个小时 — two hours
看起来长 — seems long
但是 — but
不一会儿 — in no time
就过去了 — it goes by
Quick Rule
不一会儿 + ...
Meaning: something happens after a very short time, before long.
Examples:
不一会儿就忘了
不一会儿就来了
不一会儿就过去了