HSK 5 · Verbs

等待 děngdài “to wait” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 等待 means

  1. to wait
  2. to wait for

How to say 等待

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale等děng3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale待dài4th tone, falling

等待 in a sentence

  1. 我在等待朋友的回信。

    Wǒ zài děngdài péngyou de huíxìn.

    I’m waiting for a reply from my friend.

    Sentence #1691681 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 它是值得等待的。

    Tā shì zhíde děngdài de.

    It’s worth the wait.

    Sentence #5978334 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 没人知道等待我们的是什么。

    Méi rén zhīdao děngdài wǒmen de shì shénme.

    No one knew what awaited us.

    Sentence #12731143 from Tatoeba

How 等待 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
The character 待 (dài) with each of its parts in a different colour
待dàito wait
  • 彳step · chì
  • 寺court · sì

How to write 等待

等 12 strokes · 待 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 等待

Words with 等

等děng · to wait等于děngyú · to equal平等píngděng · equal等候děnghòu · to wait相等xiāngděng · equal等级děngjí · grade

Words with 待

待dāi · to stay接待jiēdài · to receive (visitors or guests)对待duìdài · to treat招待zhāodài · to hold a reception期待qīdài · to look forward to待遇dàiyù · treatment看待kàndài · to regard款待kuǎndài · to entertain (guests)亏待kuīdài · to treat unfairly虐待nüèdài · to abuse

More words: Common Verbs

挡dǎng · to block导致dǎozhì · to lead to到达dàodá · to reach登记dēngjì · to register (one’s name)等于děngyú · to equal滴dī · a drop递dì · to hand over断duàn · to break

FAQs

等待 (děngdài) means “to wait” or “to wait for”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it děngdài: děng with a 3rd tone, then dài with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 等待 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type dengdai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 等待 from the suggestions. Typing dengdai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
等待 is an HSK 5 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.