HSK 4 · Time

平时 píngshí “ordinarily” in Chinese

Traditional 平時

What 平时 means

  1. ordinarily
  2. in normal times
  3. in peacetime

How to say 平时

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale平píng2nd 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

平时 in a sentence

  1. 你平时做些什么？

    Nǐ píngshí zuò xiē shénme?

    What do you usually do?

    Sentence #10895477 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 今天他比平时起得早。

    Jīntiān tā bǐ píngshí qǐ de zǎo.

    He got up earlier than usual today.

    Sentence #1138977 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我平时每天可能练习一个小时汉字。

    Wǒ píngshí měitiān kěnéng liànxí yí ge xiǎoshí Hànzì.

    Normally I practise Chinese characters for about an hour a day.

    Sentence #899112 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 平时 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 平 (píng) with each of its parts in a different colour
平píngflat; level; smooth
  • 干dry · gān
  • 丷eight form of 八 · bā
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 平时

平 5 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.

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

Words related to 平时

Words with 平

水平shuǐpíng · level平píng · flat平常píngcháng · ordinary平衡pínghéng · balance平均píngjūn · average平安píng'ān · safe and sound公平gōngpíng · fair平等píngděng · equal平静píngjìng · calm和平hépíng · peace

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同时tóngshí · at the same time暂时zànshí · temporary按时ànshí · on time

More words: Time

节jié · festival礼拜天Lǐbàitiān · Sunday秒miǎo · second (of time)偶尔ǒu'ěr · occasionally世纪shìjì · century同时tóngshí · at the same time永远yǒngyuǎn · forever暂时zànshí · temporary

FAQs

平时 (píngshí) means “ordinarily” or “in normal times”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it píngshí: píng 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, 平时 is written 平時. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type pingshi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 平时 from the suggestions. Typing pingshi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
平时 is an HSK 4 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.