Chinese word

不一会儿

Pronunciation

Pinyinbù yī huìr

Meaning

adverbin a little while

Example

你休息一下，不一会儿我们再走。nǐ xiū xī yí xià bù yí huìr wǒ men zài zǒu

Rest for a bit, and we'll leave again in a little while.

Illustration for 不一会儿 (in a little while)

More examples

请坐，服务员不一会儿就来。qǐng zuò fú wù yuán bù yí huìr jiù lái

Please sit down. The server will come in a little while.

Core concept

Only a small stretch of time passes before something happens.

Common phrases

不一会儿就好bù yí huìr jiù hǎo
be okay soon
不一会儿就来bù yí huìr jiù lái
come in a little while
不一会儿就到bù yí huìr jiù dào
arrive in a little while

Similar words

一会儿yí huìr: After a short while, something happens.
很快hěn kuài: Quickly, with little time passing, a result or change appears.
马上mǎ shàng: Immediately or with almost no time between events.

Definition in Chinese

用来表示某事在很短时间内发生或将要发生的副词。yòng lái biǎo shì mǒu shì zài hěn duǎn shí jiān nèi fā shēng huò jiāng yào fā shēng de fù cí

Word origin

不一会儿 (bùyīhuìer, "in a little while") joins 不 (bù, "not") and 一会儿 (yīhuìr, "a short while"), creating a fixed expression for a short wait before an event.

Usage tips

The interval is not an exact number of minutes, so the situation decides how long the brief wait is.

Opposites

很久hěn jiǔfor a long timeadverb