时

Tap the pinyin to hear it

o'clock; time; when; hour; season; period

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

day

Components 日寸

time · Heisig RSH #168

sun + glued to

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
小时	xiǎo shí	hour; CL:個\|个[ge4]
时间	shí jiān	(concept of) time; (duration of) time; (point in) time
有时候	yǒu shí hou	sometimes
时候	shí hou	time; length of time; moment; period
学分小时	xué fēn xiǎo shí	credit hour (in an academic credit system); see also 學分制\|学分制[xue2 fen1 zhi4]
不时	bù shí	from time to time; now and then; occasionally; frequently
子时	zǐ shí	11 pm-1 am (in the system of two-hour subdivisions used in former times)
时人	shí rén	(literary) people of that time; contemporaries
时区	shí qū	time zone
一时	yī shí	a period of time; a while; for a short while; temporary; momentary; at the same time
中时	Zhōng Shí	China Times (newspaper published in Taiwan) (abbr. for 中國時報\|中国时报[Zhong1 guo2 Shi2 bao4])
学时	xué shí	class hour; period
时大时小	shí dà shí xiǎo	sometimes big, sometimes small; varying
风行一时	fēng xíng yī shí	(idiom) to be popular for a while; to be all the rage for a time
儿时	ér shí	childhood
天时	tiān shí	the time; the right time; weather conditions; destiny; course of time; heaven's natural or…
时不时	shí bù shí	from time to time
时机	shí jī	opportunity; opportune moment
机时	jī shí	usage time of a machine, computer or instrument (typically measured in hours)
天时地利人和	tiān shí dì lì rén hé	the time is right, geographical and social conditions are favorable (idiom); a good time t…

These characters use 时 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
时 sound part	shí	time, season; period, era, age
莳	shì	to transplant, to grow; dill, Anethum graveolens
鲥	shí	Reeves' shad; hilsa herring
埘	shí	a chicken roost