Daily Mandarin Lesson Using When in Chinese

The Mandarin Chinese phrase for when is 甚é º ¼Ã¦â„¢â€šÃ¥â‚¬â„¢, or ä »â‚¬Ã¤ ¹Ë†Ã¦â€" ¶Ã¥â‚¬â„¢ in simplified form. This is an important Chinese phrase to know in order to schedule meetings for business or leisure. Characters   The traditional way to write when in Chinese is 甚é º ¼Ã¦â„¢â€šÃ¥â‚¬â„¢. You will see this in Hong Kong or Taiwan. The phrase can also be written as ä »â‚¬Ã¤ ¹Ë†Ã¦â€" ¶Ã¥â‚¬â„¢. This is the simplified version, which can be found in Mainland China. The first two characters 甚é º ¼ / ä »â‚¬Ã¤ ¹Ë† (shà ©nme) mean what.† The last two characters 時候 (shà ­ hou) mean â€Å"time,† or â€Å"length of time.† Put together,  Ã§â€Å¡Ã© º ¼ æâ€" ¶Ã¥â‚¬â„¢ / ä »â‚¬Ã¤ ¹Ë†Ã¦â€" ¶Ã¥â‚¬â„¢ literally means what time. However, when is a more correct translation of the phrase. If you want to ask what time is it? you would usually say:  Ã§Å½ °Ã¥Å" ¨Ã¥â€¡  Ã§â€š ¹Ã¤ ºâ€ (xià  n zà  i jÇ  diÇŽn le)? Pronunciation The phrase is made up of 4 characters:  Ã§â€Å¡Ã© º ¼Ã¦â„¢â€šÃ¥â‚¬â„¢ /  Ã¤ »â‚¬Ã¤ ¹Ë†Ã¦â€" ¶Ã¥â‚¬â„¢.  Ã§â€Å¡ / ä »â‚¬ is pronounced shà ©n, which is in the 2nd tone.  The pinyin for é º ¼ / ä ¹Ë† is me, which is unaccented and thus has no tone. The pinyin for 時 / æâ€" ¶ is shà ­, which is in the 2nd tone. Finally, 候 is pronounced as hou. This character is also unaccented.  Thus, in terms of tones, 甚é º ¼Ã¦â„¢â€šÃ¥â‚¬â„¢ /  Ã¤ »â‚¬Ã¤ ¹Ë†Ã¦â€" ¶Ã¥â‚¬â„¢ can also be written as shen2 me shi 2 hou. Sentence Examples   NÇ  shà ©nme shà ­hou qà ¹ BÄ›ijÄ «ng?ä ½  Ã§â€Å¡Ã© º ¼Ã¦â„¢â€šÃ¥â‚¬â„¢Ã¥Å½ »Ã¥Å'â€"ä º ¬?ä ½  Ã¤ »â‚¬Ã¤ ¹Ë†Ã¦â€" ¶Ã¥â‚¬â„¢Ã¥Å½ »Ã¥Å'â€"ä º ¬?When are you going to Beijing?TÄ  shà ©nme shà ­hou yà  o là ¡i?ä »â€"甚é º ¼Ã¦â„¢â€šÃ¥â‚¬â„¢Ã¨ ¦ Ã¤ ¾â€ ?ä »â€"ä »â‚¬Ã¤ ¹Ë†Ã¦â€" ¶Ã¥â‚¬â„¢Ã¨ ¦ Ã¦  ¥?When is he coming?