HSK 2 · Common Verbs

等 děng “to wait” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 等 means

  1. to wait
  2. to wait for
  3. to await
  4. by the time
  5. when
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • till
  • and so on
  • etc.
  • et al.
  • (bound form) class
  • rank

How to say 等

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale等děng3rd tone, dipping

等 in a sentence

  1. 请在这儿等一会儿。

    Qǐng zài zhèr děng yíhuìr.

    Please wait here a moment.

    Sentence #1785990 from Tatoeba

  2. 没关系，我可以等。

    Méi guānxi, wǒ kěyǐ děng.

    That’s OK, I can wait.

    Sentence #2303393 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 大家都在等你。

    Dàjiā dōu zài děng nǐ.

    Everyone’s waiting for you.

    Sentence #458163 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 等 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 等 (děng) with each of its parts in a different colour
等děngto wait for; to await
  • ⺮bamboo form of 竹 · zhú
  • 寺court · sì

How to write 等

等 12 strokes

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

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

Words related to 等

Words with 等

等待děngdài · to wait等于děngyú · to equal平等píngděng · equal等候děnghòu · to wait相等xiāngděng · equal等级děngjí · grade

More words: Common Verbs

休息xiūxi · to rest找zhǎo · to look for帮助bāngzhù · to help介绍jièshào · to introduce玩wán · to play进jìn · to enter出chū · to go out给gěi · to give

FAQs

等 (děng) means “to wait” or “to wait for”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it děng: děng with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 等 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type deng with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 等 from the suggestions. Typing deng into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
等 is an HSK 2 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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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.