时不时 (shí bù shí) — from time to time; occasionally

Definition

Adverb meaning 'from time to time', more literary and slightly more frequent than 偶尔. Almost always followed by 会 or 也, as in 时不时会…

adverb

from time to timeoccasionally

时不时。
Tā shí bù shí huì lái zhè jiā kā fēi guǎn zuò zuò.
He comes to this café from time to time to sit a while.
，时不时。
Suī rán gōng zuò hěn máng, dàn wǒ shí bù shí yě huì kàn kàn xiǎo shuō.
Although work is very busy, I occasionally read novels.
时不时，。
Zhè lǐ shí bù shí huì xià bào yǔ, chū mén zuì hǎo dài sǎn.
It occasionally rains heavily here; it's best to bring an umbrella when going out.

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 時; 时 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

日日rìsun; day

Sound part声符shēngfú

之

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.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.