Chinese word

一会儿

Pronunciation

Pinyinyī huìr

Meaning

  • adverbsoon

Example

我一会儿就到。wǒ yí huìr jiù dào

I'll arrive soon.

Illustration for 一会儿 (soon)

More examples

电影结束后，过一会儿再走。diàn yǐng jié shù hòu guò yí huìr zài zǒu

After the movie ends, let's leave in a little while.

Core concept

A small stretch of time close to the present, either before an event or lasting briefly.

Common phrases

  • 过一会儿guò yí huìr

    after a while

  • 一会儿就到yí huìr jiù dào

    arrive soon

Similar words

马上mǎ shàng: Immediately or with almost no delay, an action is about to begin.
很快hěn kuài: Within a short time, an action or event happens quickly.
不久bù jiǔ: Before long, an action or event is expected to happen.

Definition in Chinese

表示很短时间后发生或即将发生的时间副词，也可表示短时间的间隔，常用于口语中。biǎo shì hěn duǎn shí jiān hòu fā shēng huò jí jiāng fā shēng de shí jiān fù cí yě kě biǎo shì duǎn shí jiān de jiàn gé cháng yòng yú kóu yǔ zhōng

Word origin

一会儿 (yīhuìer, "soon; a while") is formed from 一 (yī, "one") and 会儿 (huìr, "a short while"), treating one brief interval as time near now or as a short duration.

Usage tips

  • English separates "in a while" from "for a while", but Chinese can use 一会儿 (yīhuìer, "a short time") for both; the verb position shows which meaning is intended.

Other meanings

  • a whilenoun
  • for a bitadverb

Word lists with this word