耗时 (hào shí) — to take (a period of time); to consume time | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

耗时 focuses on how much time a task consumes, used as a verb ('took three weeks') or adjective ('time-consuming'). Unlike 历时, which simply states the duration of a historical event, 耗时 emphasizes that a long time is used up.

verb

to take (a period of time)to consume time

Examples

耗时。
Wán chéng zhè ge rèn wu hào shí le sān gè xīng qī.
Completing this task took three weeks.
耗时。
Zhè zhǒng shǒu gōng zhì zuò fēi cháng hào shí.
This kind of handmade work is very time-consuming.
耗时。
Xiū fù nà tái jī qì hào shí le liǎng tiān.
Repairing that machine took two days.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

耗hàoconsume

耗 “consume” acts on 时 “time”, meaning to take time.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Time (Abstract)

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