B1 · Grammar reference
Expressing "when" with "shi"
By now you should now how to express "when" using 的时候 (de shíhou). But there's also a slightly shorter, more formal way to do it: simply use 时 (shí) all by itself. (No 的!)
- Keywords
- 时 · 时候 · 的时候 · when · while
- Used for
- Expressing time and date · Referring to simultaneous events
- Classification
- Nouns · HSK3
Examples (10)
考试时不要说话。
我面试时经常会问这个问题。
会议结束时老板才来。
我生气时不想说话。
他们大学毕业时就分手了。
飞机起飞时，他关了手机和电脑。
他太太提出离婚时，他很惊讶。
他去世时，他的孩子都不在身边。
我们公司成立时只有三个人。
跟别人说话时不要玩手机。
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Summary, structure, classification, and adapted sentence examples draw from the AllSet Learning Chinese Grammar Wiki under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; changes were made. This noncommercial reference is based on an October 2023 snapshot.
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