Meaning
o'clock; time; when; hour; season; period
Chinese: 时间、时候。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “shi” becomes a different word in each tone. 时 is the 2nd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 时候shí houtime; length of time; moment; period
- 时间shí jiān(concept of) time; (duration of) time; (point in) time
- 小时xiǎo shíhour
- 有时yǒu shísometimes; now and then
- 有时候yǒu shí housometimes
Example Sentence
上课的时候要认真听讲。Shàng kè de shí hou yào rèn zhēn tīng jiǎng.Pay attention during class.
上课Shàng kèto go to class的deof时候shí houtime要yàoto want认真rèn zhēnconscientious听讲tīng jiǎngto attend a lecture。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
The sun 日 (meaning) plus 寸 (from 寺, sound): the movement of the sun marks ‘time / hour’. Simplified from 時.
A way to remember it
The sun measured out — time.
Easy to confuse with
- 村‘Village’: also pairs with 寸, but with 木 (tree) on the left, not 日 (sun).