那时 meaning in English

nà shí

then; at that time

HSK 2Traditional 那時13 strokes

Meaning of 那时

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

nàshí

then
at that time
in those days

How to use 那时

那时 sets the scene for something in the past, usually at the start of a sentence. It is common in storytelling and memories. Example: 那时我还是学生。(Nà shí wǒ hái shì xuésheng.) At that time I was still a student.

那时 is built from 那 (nà) "that" and 时 (shí) "time", so it literally means "that time". Think of pointing back at a moment on a timeline and saying "that time, over there".

Common mistake: Learners often say 那时 for the future, but it almost always points back to the past. For a future moment, 到时候 (dào shíhou) "when the time comes" is more natural. Also keep the tone on 那 as fourth tone nà, not nǎ, which turns it into the question word 哪 "which".

那时 in example sentences

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

你nǐ那nà时shí不bù在zài这zhè里lǐ。

You weren't here then.

我wǒ那nà时shí还hái是shì个gè外wài行háng。

I was still an amateur at that time.

我wǒ们men那nà时shí是shì孩hái子zi。

We were kids then.

就jiù在zài那nà时shí，巴bā士shì停tíng住zhù了le。

Just then, the bus stopped.

他tā告gào诉sù我wǒ他tā那nà时shí很hěn忙máng。

He told me that he was busy then.

Stroke order for each character

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

那 nà · that · 6 strokes

时 shí · o'clock · 7 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 那时.

时候	shíhou	time; length of time
那些	nàxiē	those
时间	shíjiān	(concept of) time; (duration of) time
那里	nàlǐ	there; that place
小时	xiǎoshí	hour
那边	nàbiān	over there; yonder
那儿	nàr	there
有时	yǒushí	sometimes; now and then
有时候	yǒushíhou	sometimes
那么	nàme	like that; in that way; to that extent; (before a number) ... or so; about ...
那样	nàyàng	that kind; that sort
当时	dāngshí	then; at that time

Questions about 那时

What does 那时 mean?

那时 (nà shí) means "then; at that time".

How do you write 那时?

那时 is made of 2 characters: 那 (6 strokes), 时 (7 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.

Is 那时 an HSK word?

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

How is 那时 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 那时 is written 那時.

What is the difference between 那时 and 那时候?

They mean the same thing. 那时候 (nà shíhou) is more common in everyday speech. 那时 is shorter and appears more often in writing and narration.

Can 那时 be used with 从 or 在?

Yes. 从那时起 (cóng nà shí qǐ) means "from then on" and is a very common set phrase. 在那时 is also possible, but 那时 alone usually works fine.