小时 (xiǎo shí) — hour in Mandarin
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#401 most common word · HSK 2 · CEFR A2
Pinyin colour key: tone 1 (high flat), tone 2 (rising), tone 3 (dipping), tone 4 (falling), neutral.
Tone breakdown
小时 is pronounced xiǎo shí. Tap any syllable’s row to hear the whole word.
In a sentence
Yī xiǎo shí yǒu liù shí fēn zhōng.
One hour has sixty minutes.
Hear it, then say it right
Reading pinyin only gets you halfway. ToneDeck plays native audio for 小时 and thousands more words, then scores your pronunciation so your tones land. HSK 1 is free, no install.
Start freeFrequently asked questions
What does 小时 mean?+
小时 (xiǎo shí) means "hour" in Mandarin Chinese.
How do you pronounce 小时?+
小时 is pronounced xiǎo shí. It uses the tone 3 (rising/dipping), then the tone 2 (rising). Tap the character on this page to hear native audio.
How common is 小时 in Mandarin?+
小时 is the #401 most frequent word in spoken Mandarin, so it is one of the first words worth learning.
Where 小时 fits
Every HSK 2 word with tone-coloured pinyin and audio.
Words at a similar frequency
Master the tones first
What each tone sounds like and why it matters.
Why some tones change in connected speech.
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