HSK 6 · Verbs

等候 děnghòu “to wait” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 等候 means

  1. to wait
  2. to wait for

How to say 等候

  • 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候hòu4th tone, falling

等候 in a sentence

  1. 请在一米线外等候。

    Qǐng zài yì mǐ xiàn wài děnghòu.

    Please wait behind the one-metre line.

    Sentence #6054155 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 许多人在排队等候。

    Xǔduō rén zài páiduì děnghòu.

    Lots of people were queuing.

    Sentence #851526 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 请在被叫到名字之前坐在椅子上等候。

    Qǐng zài bèi jiào dào míngzi zhīqián zuò zài yǐzi shàng děnghòu.

    Please have a seat and wait until your name is called.

    Sentence #8780277 from Tatoeba

How 等候 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 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 候 (hòu) with each of its parts in a different colour
候hòuto wait
  • 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 hòu.

How to write 等候

等 12 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.

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

Words related to 等候

Words with 等

等děng · to wait等待děngdài · to wait等于děngyú · to equal平等píngděng · equal相等xiāngděng · equal等级děngjí · grade

Words with 候

时候shíhou · time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候选hòuxuǎn · candidate

More words: Common Verbs

捣乱dǎoluàn · to make trouble搭配dāpèi · to match瞪dèng · to stare蹬dēng · to push down with the foot得罪dézuì · to offend颠倒diāndǎo · to turn upside down奠定diàndìng · to establish点缀diǎnzhuì · to decorate

FAQs

等候 (děnghòu) means “to wait” or “to wait for”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it děnghòu: děng with a 3rd tone, then hòu with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 等候 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type denghou with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 等候 from the suggestions. Typing denghou into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
等候 is an HSK 6 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.