时候
(a moment in) time; when
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HSK level
- Pinyin
- shíhou
- Part of speech
- noun
- Level
- HSK 1
- Strokes
- 17
- Register
- neutral
- In episodes
- 5
Stroke order for 时候
时候 is written with 17 strokes (时: 7, 候: 10). The animation replays automatically.
What does 时候 mean?
时候 (shíhou) means 'a moment in time' or 'a point/period of time' and is the building block for almost every Chinese 'when' sentence.
The second syllable 候 is unstressed (neutral tone). Two patterns to memorize: (1) 什么时候 (shénme shíhou) = 'when?' as a question — '你什么时候来?' means 'when are you coming?'
; (2) [verb/phrase] + 的时候 = 'when / while' as a clause — '我吃饭的时候' means 'when I'm eating.' Unlike English 'when,' Chinese 时候 is a noun, so it follows the time clause and is preceded by 的. Also note: 时候 by itself means 'time' as in 'the right moment,' not as in 'what time is it' (that's 几点). For asking the clock time, use 几点; for asking the occasion or moment, use 什么时候.
Character by character
Memory hook: 时 = time/hour, 候 = a moment; together = 'a moment in time.'
Hear 时候 in real episodes
时候 appears in 5 Fluentide podcast episodes at natural native speed, 4 of them below. Each sentence plays at the easiest difficulty it exists in — switch it to hear the same moment at your level, with full pinyin and English throughout.
那时候，在街上亲嘴是不行的。
At that time, kissing on the street was not allowed.
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投票的时候，大家想的是同一件事：日子太贵了。
When they voted, everyone was thinking about the same thing: life is too expensive.
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看电影的时候，中间会出来很短的小片子。
When you watch a movie, a very short little film comes on in the middle.
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打橄榄球的时候，他也学习数学。
When he played football, he also studied math.
Former NFL Lineman John Urschel, Now an MIT Professor, Solves a 30-Year-Old Math Conjecture on Gaussian Elimination
Example sentences
你什么时候来？
Nǐ shénme shíhou lái?
When are you coming?
spoken
我小的时候很喜欢狗。
Wǒ xiǎo de shíhou hěn xǐhuan gǒu.
When I was little, I loved dogs.
neutral
有时候我很累。
Yǒu shíhou wǒ hěn lèi.
Sometimes I'm tired.
spoken
吃饭的时候不要看手机。
Chī fàn de shíhou búyào kàn shǒujī.
Don't look at your phone while eating.
neutral
Common phrases with 时候
Synonyms
时间 means 'time' as a quantity or duration — '我没有时间' ('I don't have time'). 时候 is a specific moment or 'when.' Don't confuse them: 你有时间吗 = 'do you have time?'; 你什么时候来 = 'when are you coming?'
时 alone is a written/literary 'when,' used in formal Chinese: 入冬时 = 'when winter begins.' Spoken Chinese prefers 的时候.
Don't confuse 时候 with
Frequently asked questions
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
Meet 时候 again — in real Chinese, at your level.
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