HSK 2 · Time

小时 xiǎoshí “hour” in Chinese

Traditional 小時

What 小时 means

  1. hour

How to say 小时

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale小xiǎo3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale时shí2nd tone, rising

小时 in a sentence

  1. 他让我等了一个多小时。

    Tā ràng wǒ děng le yí ge duō xiǎoshí.

    He kept me waiting for more than an hour.

    Sentence #1171201 from Tatoeba

  2. 已经等了半个小时了。

    Yǐjīng děng le bàn ge xiǎoshí le.

    I have already waited for half an hour.

    Sentence #420122 from Tatoeba

  3. 我每天运动一小时。

    Wǒ měitiān yùndòng yì xiǎoshí.

    I exercise for an hour every day.

    Sentence #1064541 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 小时 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 小 (xiǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
小xiǎosmall
  • 亅hook · jué
  • 八eight · bā

Memory aidThree small strokes, like grains: small.

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 小时

小 3 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.

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

Words related to 小时

Words with 小

小xiǎo · small小姐xiǎojiě · miss小学xiǎoxué · elementary school小学生xiǎoxuéshēng · primary school student小朋友xiǎopéngyǒu · child从小cóngxiǎo · from childhood小孩儿xiǎoháir · child小时候xiǎoshíhou · in one’s childhood小心xiǎoxīn · be careful小区xiǎoqū · residential estate

Words with 时

时候shíhou · time时shí · o’clock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

分钟fēnzhōng · minute去年qùnián · last year日rì · day生日shēngrì · birthday早上zǎoshang · morning晚上wǎnshang · evening时间shíjiān · time一起yìqǐ · together

FAQs

小时 (xiǎoshí) means “hour”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it xiǎoshí: xiǎo with a 3rd 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, 小时 is written 小時. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xiaoshi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 小时 from the suggestions. Typing xiaoshi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
小时 is an HSK 2 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.