一会儿…一会儿【yíhuìr … yíhuìr】

now ... now, one moment ... the next, alternating, back and forth, yihuir yihuir

Says two states keep taking turns, "one moment … the next", with 一会儿 before each: 。 is "the weather is cold one minute and hot the next".

HSK 5

AI-generated

Structure

[subject] + 一会儿 + [verb] / [adjective] + 一会儿 + [verb] / [adjective]

Description

一会儿 A 一会儿 B means "A one moment, B the next". The two keep swapping, and the speaker is often a little impatient with it. Each 一会儿 goes straight before a verb or adjective, and the two are usually opposites or at least different.

。

The weather is cold one minute and hot the next.

。

The child keeps going from crying to laughing.

There can be more than two, and the parts can be longer phrases with objects.

，，。

He reads a bit, checks his phone, then gets up for a drink.

With two different subjects, each 一会儿 comes first in its clause.

，，。

First you talk, then he talks – I can't follow any of it.

一会儿…一会儿 or 一边…一边

一边…一边 is two things at the same time: eating while watching TV. 一会儿…一会儿 is one after the other, switching back and forth.

。

He watches TV while he eats.

× 他一会儿开车一会儿听音乐 → 他一边开车一边听音乐

The wrong line has him driving, then stopping to listen to music, then driving again.

On its own, 一会儿 is "a moment": 等一会儿 is "wait a moment".

Examples

。

The weather is cold one minute and hot the next.

。

The child keeps going from crying to laughing.

，，。

He reads a bit, checks his phone, then gets up for a drink.

，，。

First you talk, then he talks – I can't follow any of it.

。

Today it's been raining one minute and sunny the next.

，。

One minute she says she's going, the next she says she isn't.

，。

The puppy keeps running to the door and back.

，，。

He's in a bad mood, standing up and sitting down again.

。

The light in the room keeps flickering on and off.

，，？

First you want this, then you want that – what do you actually want?

。

Up in the mountains it's sunny one moment and overcast the next.

，。

He switches back and forth between Chinese and English.

一…一…

一方面…另一方面