HSK 5 · Function Words

临时 línshí “temporary” in Chinese

Traditional 臨時

What 临时 means

  1. temporary
  2. at the last minute
  3. as the time draws near
  4. at the last moment
  5. interim
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • ad hoc

How to say 临时

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale临lín2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale时shí2nd tone, rising

临时 in a sentence

  1. 家豪说他今天不来了，临时加班。

    Jiāháo shuō tā jīntiān bù lái le, línshí jiābān.

    Jiahao says he’s not coming today – he has to work overtime at the last minute.

    Sentence #13523776 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 事先打个招呼，别叫我临时抓瞎。

    Shìxiān dǎ ge zhāohu, bié jiào wǒ línshí zhuāxiā.

    Give me a heads-up beforehand – don’t leave me scrambling at the last minute.

    Sentence #3709297 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 正式工比临时工要好。

    Zhèngshì gōng bǐ línshí gōng yào hǎo.

    A permanent job is better than a temporary one.

    Sentence #8715879 from Tatoeba

How 临时 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 临 (lín) drawn as one shape
临línto face

临 is a single shape of 9 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

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.

How to write 临时

临 9 strokes · 时 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 临时

Words with 临

光临guānglín · (formal) to honour with one’s presence面临miànlín · to face临床línchuáng · clinical濒临bīnlín · to be on the verge of降临jiànglín · to arrive

Words with 时

时候shíhou · time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

More words: Function Words & Grammar

可见kějiàn · it can clearly be seen (that this is the case)劳驾láojià · excuse me厘米límǐ · centimetre连忙liánmáng · promptly陆续lùxù · in turn某mǒu · some难免nánmiǎn · hard to avoid哪怕nǎpà · even

FAQs

临时 (línshí) means “temporary” or “at the last minute”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it línshí: lín with a 2nd tone, then shí with a 2nd 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, 临时 is written 臨時. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type linshi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 临时 from the suggestions. Typing linshi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
临时 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.