HSK 7–9 grammar · conjunction
起初⋯⋯，⋯⋯才⋯⋯
起初⋯⋯，⋯⋯才⋯⋯ — at first …, only later …
Pattern
+ + + +
( ) can be left out · other words may come before, between and after
How it works
起初 sets up how things stood at the beginning, and the 才 clause reports the later turn — with 才 stressing that it took until then. The pair works because the second state contradicts the first.
Examples
起初我不同意，后来才明白他的用意。
Qǐchū wǒ bù tóngyì, hòulái cái míngbai tā de yòngyì.
At first I disagreed; only later did I understand what he meant.
起初大家都不看好，直到成绩出来才服气。
Qǐchū dàjiā dōu bú kànhǎo, zhídào chéngjì chūlái cái fúqì.
At first nobody rated it — not until the results came out were they convinced.
Related
See it in a story
In the app, 起初⋯⋯，⋯⋯才⋯⋯ is underlined wherever it appears in the stories you read, and practised with sentences from them. Free.