Chinese word

暂

Pronunciation

Pinyinzàn

Meaning

  • adverbfor now

Example

我们暂不做决定。wǒ men zàn bú zuò jué dìng

For now, we will not make a decision.

Illustration for 暂 (for now)

More examples

她暂时住在朋友家。tā zàn shí zhù zài péng yǒu jiā

She is temporarily staying at a friend's house.

Core concept

A decision or action is placed on a short hold while the matter stays open.

Common phrases

  • 暂时zàn shí

    temporarily

  • 暂不zàn bù

    not for now

  • 暂且zàn qiě

    for now

Similar words

暂时zàn shí: Shows that a condition or action will continue only for a limited time.
暂且zàn qiě: Allows something to be done for now while a later step remains possible.
一时yì shí: Shows that a condition exists for only a short while.
临时lín shí: Describes a short-term measure arranged to meet an unexpected need.

Definition in Chinese

作为副词，用于表示暂且先止步或暂时改变安排，不表示永久性决定。zuò wéi fù cí yòng yú biǎo shì zàn qiě xiān zhǐ bù huò zàn shí gǎi biàn ān pái bù biǎo shì yóng jiǔ xìng jué dìng

Word origin

暂 (zàn, "for now") combines 日 (rì, "day") + 斩 (zhǎn, "cut"), and its historical sense of a brief span explains why it marks a temporary arrangement rather than a permanent decision.

Usage tips

  • In everyday conversation, the two-syllable form 暂时 (zànshí, "for the time being") is often more natural than the shorter form, which is especially common in notices and brief statements.

Other meanings

  • temporarilyadverb
  • for the time beingadverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word