HSK 1 · Time

时候 shíhou “time” in Chinese

Traditional 時候

What 时候 means

  1. time, moment
  2. length of time
  3. period

How to say 时候

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale时shí2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own候houneutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

时候 in a sentence

  1. 我不知道他什么时候来。

    Wǒ bù zhīdao tā shénme shíhou lái.

    I don’t know when he’ll come.

    Sentence #3636661 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 你什么时候开始工作？

    Nǐ shénme shíhou kāishǐ gōngzuò?

    When do you start work?

    Sentence #2007041 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. …的时候: when, while

    你想走的时候就走吧。

    Nǐ xiǎng zǒu de shíhou jiù zǒu ba.

    Leave whenever you want to.

    Sentence #332528 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 时候 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 时 (shí) with each of its parts in a different colour
时shío’clock
  • 日sun · rìMeaning part
  • 寸inch · cùn

Memory aidThe sun 日 marks the time of day. In the full form 時, 寺 (sì) gave the sound.

The character 候 (hòu) with each of its parts in a different colour
候hòuto waitlight in 时候
  • 亻person form of 人 · rénMeaning part
  • 矦target in archery · hóuSound part

亻 hints at the meaning (person); 矦 (hóu) hints at the sound. Compare it with hou.

How to write 时候

时 7 strokes · 候 10 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

时候 (shíhou) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 时候 (shíhou). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 时候

Words with 时

时shí · o’clock小时xiǎoshí · hour时间shíjiān · time有时yǒushí · sometimes小时候xiǎoshíhou · in one’s childhood当时dāngshí · then平时píngshí · ordinarily同时tóngshí · at the same time暂时zànshí · temporary按时ànshí · on time

Words with 候

小时候xiǎoshíhou · in one’s childhood气候qìhòu · climate问候wènhòu · to give one’s respects伺候cìhou · to serve等候děnghòu · to wait候选hòuxuǎn · candidate

More words: Time

号hào · number年nián · year上午shàngwǔ · morning (forenoon)下午xiàwǔ · afternoon月yuè · month星期xīngqī · week今天jīntiān · today暂时zànshí · temporary

In the Chinese zodiac

猴hóu · Year of the Monkey

候 shares its sound part with 猴 (monkey).

FAQs

时候 (shíhou) means “time, moment” or “length of time”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it shíhou: shí with a 2nd tone, then hou with a neutral tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 时候 is written 時候. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shihou with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 时候 from the suggestions. Typing shihou into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
时候 is an HSK 1 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.