Forum Rocket Chinese Chinese Grammar Shihou or Shijian? (时候还是时间?)

Shihou or Shijian? (时候还是时间?)

DANNY321

DANNY321

Wondering what the difference is and in what context you use which. Been confusing me for a while..
Robert-C7

Robert-C7

One of my sources says that expressions with shíhou (shénme shíhou, xiǎo de shíhou) involve specific periods of time. Expressions with shíjiān involve time in a more abstract sense: - Méiyǒu shíjiān chīfàn. (There's no time to eat) - Wǒ yǒu shíjiān. (I have time) - Shíjiān bù zǎole. (It's getting late) Also, shíjiān means time as a quantity while shíhou means point in time. For instance, - Nǐ shénme shíhou qù Běijīng? (When are you going to Beijing?) - Nǐ shì shénme shíhou qù Běijīng de? (When did you go to Beijing?) requires an answer that is specific in time.
DANNY321

DANNY321

sweet, that was a great answer, I appreciate the help!
kaye45

kaye45

Also my thanks, I have been wondering about it for a while as well. And by the way, that language does a "sinophile" learn?
Lin-Ping

Lin-Ping

大家好! Thank you very much Robert for that perfect explanation of the difference between 时间 and 时候! 大家继续努力吧! - Lin Ping

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