Chinese symbol for “sometimes”
有时
yǒu shí
Traditional: 有時
sometimes; now and then
The closest CC-CEDICT match for sometimes is 有时 (yǒu shí), defined as: sometimes; now and then.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “sometimes”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 有时候 (有時候) | yǒu shí hou | sometimes |
| 偶尔 (偶爾) | ǒu ěr | occasionally; once in a while |
| 有的时候 (有的時候) | yǒu de shí hòu | sometimes; at times |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 有时.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 没有 (沒有) | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't |
| 所有 | suǒ yǒu | all; to have; to possess; to own |
| 还有 (還有) | hái yǒu | there still remain(s); there is (or are) still; in addition |
| 只有 | zhǐ yǒu | only have ...; there is only ...; (used in combination with 才 (cái)) it is only if ... (that one can ...) (as in 只有通过治疗才能痊愈 (zhǐ yǒu tōng gu |
| 有人 | yǒu rén | someone; people |
| 有关 (有關) | yǒu guān | to have sth to do with; to relate to |
| 时间 (時間) | shí jiān | (concept of) time; (duration of) time |
| 时候 (時候) | shí hou | time; length of time |
See also: Japanese symbol for “sometimes”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.