核心畫面
Picture a timeline with a marked point on it — 'now', or some moment you're talking about. 'Already' says the thing happened BEFORE that point, so by the time you arrive there, it's done. 'It's already 9 o'clock', 'I've already eaten' — the action sits earlier on the line than the point you expected. From that one idea — done by this point, sooner than the line you're measuring against — all its uses (no need to redo it, surprise that it came so fast, a situation that's true even now) grow.
可以想成一條時間線，上面標了一個點——「現在」，或你正在談的那個時刻。already 說的是：那件事在這個點「之前」…更多收起
可以想成一條時間線，上面標了一個點——「現在」，或你正在談的那個時刻。already 說的是：那件事在這個點「之前」就發生了，所以你走到這個點時，它已經完成。It's already 9 o'clock、I've already eaten——動作落在線上比你預期更早的位置。already 最底層的畫面比較像這種「到了這個點，事情早就到位了」；其餘用法都從這裡長出去：有的取「既然做過了就不必再做」，有的取「比想的還早，令人意外」，有的取「現在就已經是這樣了」。原始詞典資料5 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
alreadyadv/ɔːlˈɹɛdi/
- 1
Prior to some specified time, either past, present, or future; by this time; previously.
- I was surprised that she hadn’t already told me the news.
- Much of what he said I knew already.
- 2
So soon.
- Are you quitting already?
- 3
An intensifier used to emphasize impatience or express exasperation.
- I wish they'd finish already, so we can get going.
- Enough already!
- 4
Indicates the completion of an action (whether past or hypothetical), or more generally, perfective aspect.
- You frame the picture for me already anot?
- “Yah, I sign already,” my mother replied.
- 5
Marks a change in state, more or less in the same manner as the inchoative aspect.
- I don’t think he can take it already.
- Your ice cream is melting already.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。