How long will it take when people say 马上?

Question

If someone say 马上, how long will it take?

2 min? 10 min?

马上，汉语词汇，拼音是mǎ shàng，意思是立即。作时间副词，表示时间很短的意思。

It's probably like "real quick" in English. No specific time period. — dan, Sep 10 '21 at 02:34

score 10 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 10 '21 at 22:37

10

It is like "in a sec" in English.

It depends on the speaker, sometimes it's few minutes but like if you are waiting for your girlfriend to put on her makeup, 马上 may mean an hour.

edited Sep 10 '21 at 22:37

Tang Ho

answered Sep 10 '21 at 02:07

Charles chen

Could be longer. My friend called his newly met girlfriend and got "马上" as the answer. As it turned out, she never showed - never in his lifetime :) – r13 Sep 10 '21 at 23:36

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 10 '21 at 17:13

2

马上 means immediately.

But just like in English, it really depends on who you're talking to.

answered Sep 10 '21 at 17:13

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 10 '21 at 22:06

0

As long as immediately in English ;)

answered Sep 10 '21 at 22:06

Microtribute

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 12 '21 at 16:17

0

Another perspective: which one is more sooner? 即刻，馬上。I would say 即刻.

answered Sep 12 '21 at 16:17

M Cheng

4 Answers4