Chinese word

成天

Pronunciation

Pinyinchéng tiān

Meaning

  • adverball day long

Example

成天抱怨，别人会厌烦。chéng tiān bào yuàn bié rén huì yàn fán

Complaining all day long annoys other people.

Illustration for 成天 (all day long)

More examples

成天玩手机会影响学习效率。chéng tiān wán shǒu jī huì yíng xiǎng xué xí xiào lǜ

Playing on your phone all day long can affect your study efficiency.

Core concept

A whole day becomes an unbroken stretch, sometimes suggesting irritation with what keeps happening.

Common phrases

  • 成天玩手机chéng tiān wán shǒu jī

    play on one's phone all day long

  • 成天没空chéng tiān méi kòng

    have no time all day long

Similar words

总是zǒng shì: Means always or repeatedly doing something or having something happen.
一直yì zhí: Means remaining in the same action or state all the way through, without stopping.
整天zhěng tiān: Means continuing for the entire day rather than just part of it.
老是lǎo shì: Means happening again and again with a persistent, sometimes irritating effect.

Definition in Chinese

表示从早到晚或长期不断的状态，语气随意且常含否定或不满色彩，常用于日常口语而非书面语。biǎo shì cóng zǎo dào wǎn huò cháng qī bú duàn de zhuàng tài yǔ qì suí yì qiě cháng hán fǒu dìng huò bù mǎn sè cǎi cháng yòng yú rì cháng kóu yǔ ér fēi shū miàn yǔ

Word origin

成天 (chéngtiān, "all day long") developed as an informal way to frame time as a full day and can now describe a continuing habit.

Usage tips

  • It fits casual speech better than reports, notices, or other formal writing, where the same idea is usually expressed in a more neutral register.

Other meanings

  • alwaysadverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word