How to say “wait” in Chinese
wait
“Wait” in Chinese is 等, děng: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
等 is read děng. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On top, 竹 “bamboo”.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “等”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 等. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 请等一会儿qǐngděngyíhuìrPlease wait a moment.
- 我在路口等你wǒzàilùkǒuděngnǐI'm waiting for you at the intersection.
- 我们站2着等吧wǒmenzhànzheděngbaLet's wait standing up.
- 你等了多久？nǐděngleduōjiǔHow long did you wait?
- 让你久等了。ràngnǐjiǔděngleSorry to keep you waiting.
- 我等了你半天wǒděnglenǐbàntiānI waited ages for you.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “The door is open”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “wait” in Chinese?
“Wait” in Chinese is 等, pinyin děng.
What does 等 mean?
等 (děng) means “wait”.
How do you write 等?
等 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 等?
等 is read děng. Tones: děng — third tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“wait” in the lesson “The door is open”
This word is from the topic “There and back” of HSK 2. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
Start for free