不知不觉
bù zhī bù jué
before you know it
Character by character
不bù
not
not
知zhī
know
know
不bù
not
not
觉jué
feel
feel
Example
不知不觉，我来中国已经三年了。
Before I knew it, I'd been in China for three years.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
Often opens a sentence about time slipping by, followed by 已经…了.
Learn it in context
This idiom and thousands more are in Learn Chinese with Bao, with audio, pinyin and drills that make them stick.
Start the course free →