HSK 3.0 Level 2 · Time

时 shí “o’clock” in Chinese

Traditional 時

What 时 means

  1. o’clock
  2. time
  3. when
  4. hour
  5. season
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • period

How to say 时

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

时 in a sentence

  1. 过马路时小心。

    Guò mǎlù shí xiǎoxīn.

    Take care when you cross the road.

    Sentence #1399736 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 晚饭时他吃了一些米饭。

    Wǎnfàn shí tā chī le yìxiē mǐfàn.

    He had some rice at dinner.

    Sentence #6452053 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 你什么时候开始工作？

    Nǐ shénme shíhou kāishǐ gōngzuò?

    When do you start work?

    Sentence #2007041 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 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 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 时

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.

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

Words related to 时

Words with 时

时候shíhou · time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按时ànshí · on time

More words: Time & Dates

星期天Xīngqītiān · Sunday早zǎo · early从小cóngxiǎo · from childhood过年guònián · to celebrate the Chinese New Year小时候xiǎoshíhou · in one’s childhood有时yǒushí · sometimes周zhōu · week直到zhídào · until

FAQs

时 (shí) means “o’clock” or “time”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 2 word.
Say it shí: 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, 时 is written 時. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 时 from the suggestions. Typing shi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
时 is an HSK 3.0 Level 2 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 2 word list. It is not on the older 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.