Chinese word

小时候

Pronunciation

Pinyinxiǎo shí hòu

Meaning

  • nounas a child

Example

我小时候很喜欢踢球。wǒ xiǎo shí hòu hěn xǐ huān tī qiú

I loved playing soccer as a child.

Illustration for 小时候 (as a child)

More examples

小时候我经常听爷爷讲故事。xiǎo shí hòu wǒ jīng cháng tīng yé yé jiǎng gù shì

When I was a child, I often listened to my grandfather tell stories.

Core concept

A time window from the years when a person is little, used to look back on familiar activities and likes.

Common phrases

  • 小时候经常xiǎo shí hòu jīng cháng

    often as a child

  • 小时候听故事xiǎo shí hòu tīng gù shì

    listen to stories as a child

  • 小时候去上学xiǎo shí hòu qù shàng xué

    go to school as a child

Similar words

以前yǐ qián: A time before now, with attention to what life or circumstances were like then.
从前cóng qián: Former times, often remembered as a long-ago period.

Definition in Chinese

表示个体幼年时期的时间概念，常用来引出过去的习惯、爱好或经常发生的事情，多见于口语叙述中。biǎo shì gè tǐ yòu nián shí qī de shí jiān gài niàn cháng yòng lái yǐn chū guò qù de xí guàn ài hào huò jīng cháng fā shēng de shì qíng duō jiàn yú kóu yǔ xù shù zhōng

Word origin

小时候 (xiǎoshíhòu, "as a child") combines 小 (xiǎo, "little") + 时候 (shíhou, "time or period"), naming the period when a person is young.

Usage tips

  • After 小时候 (xiǎoshíhòu, "as a child"), a sentence often describes something that happened repeatedly or was enjoyed in the past, rather than one single event.

Word lists with this word