Chinese word

平常

Pronunciation

Pinyinpíng cháng

Meaning

  • adverbusually

Example

我平常七点起床。wǒ píng cháng qī diǎn qǐ chuáng

I usually get up at seven.

Illustration for 平常 (usually)

More examples

学生平常晚上学习两个小时。xué shēng píng cháng wǎn shàng xué xí liǎng gè xiǎo shí

Students usually study for two hours at night.

Core concept

The ordinary pattern of daily life, with actions returning in their normal way.

Common phrases

  • 平常学习píng cháng xué xí

    usually study

  • 平常做饭píng cháng zuò fàn

    usually cook

Similar words

平时píng shí: Usually refers to ordinary times or everyday life.
经常jīng cháng: Often marks an action or event that happens many times.
一般yì bān: Generally marks what applies in most cases or ordinary situations.

Definition in Chinese

表示在日常生活中经常发生或通常存在的情况，常作副词置于动词前，用来说明习惯性或一般性的动作或状态。biǎo shì zài rì cháng shēng huó zhōng jīng cháng fā shēng huò tōng cháng cún zài de qíng kuàng cháng zuò fù cí zhì yú dòng cí qián yòng lái shuō míng xí guàn xìng huò yì bān xìng de dòng zuò huò zhuàng tài

Word origin

平 (píng, "level") + 常 (cháng, "constant") presents everyday life as a steady pattern that keeps returning.

Usage tips

  • English often uses a word like "normal" to describe a thing, but this Chinese word marks a routine action, so it sits before the action word.

Other meanings

  • as usualadverb
  • ordinaryadjective

Opposites

  • 很少hén shǎorarelyadverb

Word lists with this word