HSK 6 grammar · pattern
早也不X，晚也不X
早（也）不…，晚（也）不… — not sooner, not later, but just then
Pattern
+ + +
( ) can be left out · other words may come before, between and after
How it works
早也不…，晚也不…, usually followed by 偏偏 and a bad moment, complains that something happened at exactly the wrong time — "not earlier, not later, but just when …".
Examples
早也不来，晚也不来，偏偏这时候来。
Zǎo yě bù lái, wǎn yě bù lái, piānpiān zhè shíhou lái.
Not earlier, not later — he shows up at just this moment.
早不坏，晚不坏，偏偏考试时坏了。
Zǎo bú huài, wǎn bú huài, piānpiān kǎoshì shí huài le.
It didn't break sooner or later — it broke right at exam time.
早也不下，晚也不下，偏偏出门时下起雨来。
Zǎo yě bú xià, wǎn yě bú xià, piānpiān chūmén shí xià qǐ yǔ lái.
It rained neither earlier nor later, but just as I went out.
See it in a story
In the app, 早也不X，晚也不X is underlined wherever it appears in the stories you read, and practised with sentences from them. Free.