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小时候 meaning in English

xiǎoshíhou

in one's childhood

HSK 2nounTraditional 小時候20 strokes

Meaning of 小时候

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

xiǎoshíhou
  1. in one's childhood

How to use 小时候

小时候 works as a time word meaning "when I was a child" and usually goes at the start of a sentence or right after the subject. It often pairs with 我 or a possessive like 我小时候. Example: 我小时候很喜欢画画。(Wǒ xiǎoshíhou hěn xǐhuan huà huà.) When I was little, I loved drawing.

小时候 is literally 小 (xiǎo, small) plus 时候 (shíhou, time): the time when you were small. Picture yourself as a little kid and say "my small time."

Common mistake: Learners mix up 小时候 (childhood) with 小时 (xiǎoshí, hour), so 三个小时 means three hours, not three childhoods. Also, 候 is read in a light neutral tone in 小时候, not a full fourth tone hòu.

小时候 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

我wǒ小xiǎo时shí候hòu每měi天tiān都dōu写xiě日rì记jì。
I used to keep a diary every day when I was young.
我wǒ小xiǎo时shí候hòu经jīng常cháng生shēng病bìng。
I was often ill as a child.
汤tāng姆mǔ小xiǎo时shí候hòu有yǒu一yì点diǎn点diǎn超chāo重zhòng。
Tom was a little overweight when he was a kid.
这zhè就jiù是shì我wǒ小xiǎo时shí候hòu住zhù的de房fáng子zi。
This is the house where I lived as a child.
小xiǎo时shí候hòu我wǒ没méi有yǒu自zì行xíng车chē。
I didn't have a bicycle when I was growing up.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

小 xiǎo · small · 3 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3

时 shí · o'clock · 7 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7

候 hòu · to wait · 10 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10

Related words

Words that share a character with 小时候.

时候shíhoutime; length of time
时间shíjiān(concept of) time; (duration of) time
小姐xiǎojiěyoung lady; miss
小时xiǎoshíhour
有时yǒushísometimes; now and then
有时候yǒushíhousometimes
小朋友xiǎopéngyǒuchild; kid (used to refer to a child, or by an adult to address a child, or, in Taiwan, to
小学xiǎoxuéelementary school; primary school
小孩儿xiǎoháirerhua variant of 小孩[xiao3 hai2]
小学生xiǎoxuéshēngprimary school student; schoolchild
小心xiǎoxīnto be careful; to take care
当时dāngshíthen; at that time

Questions about 小时候

What does 小时候 mean?

小时候 (xiǎoshíhou) means "in one's childhood" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 小时候?

小时候 is made of 3 characters: 小 (3 strokes), 时 (7 strokes), 候 (10 strokes). That is 20 strokes in total.

Is 小时候 an HSK word?

Yes. 小时候 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 小时候 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 小时候 is written 小時候.

Do I need to say 在 before 小时候?

No. 我小时候住在北京 is natural without 在. You will sometimes hear 在我小时候, but it sounds more formal or written.

How do I say "when he was a child" instead of "when I was a child"?

Put the person before it: 他小时候 (tā xiǎoshíhou), 妈妈小时候 (māma xiǎoshíhou). You can also add 的 to describe things, as in 小时候的朋友 (childhood friends).

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