等 — “when, once, until” (preposition)

Pattern: 等 + time/situation, …

Here 等 is not “wait” but a preposition introducing a time or condition — “once, when”: 等我写完作业，再跟你出去玩 “once I finish my homework, I’ll go out with you”.

Examples

1	等我写完作业，再跟你出去玩。 děng wǒ xiě wán zuòyè zài gēn nǐ chūqù wán Once I finish my homework, I’ll go out with you.
2	等你到了北京，给我打个电话。 děng nǐ dào le Běijīng gěi wǒ dǎ gè diànhuà Call me when you get to Beijing.
3	等我们到火车站的时候，火车已经开走了。 děng wǒmen dào huǒchēzhàn de shíhou huǒchē yǐjīng kāizǒu le By the time we got to the station, the train had already left.

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Explanations and examples by Zitou. Pinyin added automatically and checked.