HSK 5 · Time

时代 shídài “age” in Chinese

Traditional 時代

What 时代 means

  1. age
  2. era
  3. epoch
  4. period (in one’s life)

Measure word 个 gè · 一个时代 yí ge shídài

How to say 时代

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale时shí2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale代dài4th tone, falling

时代 in a sentence

  1. 时代在变化。

    Shídài zài biànhuà.

    Times are changing.

    Sentence #1406037 from Tatoeba

  2. 我们生活在一个精彩的时代。

    Wǒmen shēnghuó zài yí ge jīngcǎi de shídài.

    We live in exciting times.

    Sentence #10871959 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 他毕竟是那个时代的人。

    Tā bìjìng shì nà ge shídài de rén.

    After all, he’s a product of his time.

    Sentence #13891929 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 时代 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.

The character 代 (dài) with each of its parts in a different colour
代dàito be a substitute for
  • 亻person form of 人 · rén
  • 弋shoot · yì

How to write 时代

时 7 strokes · 代 5 strokes

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

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

Words related to 时代

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

Words with 代

古代gǔdài · ancient times近代jìndài · modern times (roughly 1840 to 1919 in China)年代niándài · a decade of a century (e.g. the Sixties)现代xiàndài · modern times代表dàibiǎo · representative代替dàitì · to replace后代hòudài · descendants朝代cháodài · dynasty当代dāngdài · contemporary历代lìdài · successive dynasties

More words: Time & Sequence

日历rìlì · calendar日期rìqī · date日子rìzi · day如今rújīn · nowadays时刻shíkè · time时期shíqī · period未来wèilái · future现代xiàndài · modern times

FAQs

时代 (shídài) means “age” or “era”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it shídài: shí with a 2nd 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.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 时代 is written 時代. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 个 (gè). For example, one age is 一个时代 (yí ge shídài).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shidai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 时代 from the suggestions. Typing shidai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
时代 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.