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准时 (zhǔn shí) — on time, punctual

Definition

准时 describes someone or something arriving or happening at the agreed time. As an adjective, it pairs with 很 ('very punctual'); 按时 is the adverb form meaning 'on schedule' used before verbs.

adjective
on timepunctual

Examples

  • 准时，。
    Tā měi tiān zhǔn shí shàng bān, cóng bù chí dào.
    He goes to work on time every day and is never late.
  • 准时。
    Qǐng míng tiān zǎo shàng bā diǎn zhǔn shí dào gōng sī kāi huì.
    Please arrive at the company at 8 a.m. tomorrow on time for the meeting.
  • 准时，。
    Zhè cì huǒ chē hěn zhǔn shí, méi yǒu wǎn diǎn.
    This train was very on time; it wasn't delayed.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

准zhǔnaccording to
时shítime

The sense comes from 准 (according to) and 时 (time), so the whole means conforming to the time.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 準; 准 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
隼
隼sǔn準zhǔn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 準, not 准, pairs 水 (water) with 隼 as a sound part; the evidence describes it as 'water level'.

Open 准 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 時; 时 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
日日rìsun; day
Sound part声符shēngfú
之
之zhī時shí
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 時 pairs 日 (sun/day) with 之 as the part that gives the sound; the simplified 时 is not the form described.

Open 时 →
Appears in
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