Opportune timing with "chen"

趁 (chèn) is a preposition that means to 'take advantage of' an opportunity or favorable time to do something. It is normally followed by an adjective or a short phrase explaining the situation that the person is seeking to take advantage of.

Structure

趁 + [Situation / Opportunity]

Examples

• 趁 打折，我 买 了 新手机。Chèn dǎzhé, wǒ mǎi le xīn shǒujī.Taking advantage of the discount, I bought a new phone.
• 趁 大家 不 注意，我 从 派对 上 回家 了。Chèn dàjiā bù zhùyì, wǒ cóng pàiduì shàng huíjiā le.While everyone was not paying attention, I went home from the party.
• 趁 这个 机会，我们 见 个 面 吧。Chèn zhège jīhuì, wǒmen jiàn gè miàn ba.Take this opportunity, let's meet up.
• 趁 年轻，多 去 玩玩 吧。Chèn niánqīng, duō qù wánwan ba.You guys should go have more fun while you're still young.
• 趁 天气 好，我 要 去 野餐。Chèn tiānqì hǎo, wǒ yào qù yěcān.While the weather is good, I'm going on a picnic.
• 趁 老板 不 在，我们 抽 一会 儿 烟 吧。Chèn lǎobǎn bùzài, wǒmen chōu yīhuǐ'er yān ba.When the boss isn't here, we can smoke for a little while.
• 趁 我 现在 有 假期，我们 可以 去 旅游。Chèn wǒ xiànzài yǒu jiàqī, wǒmen kěyǐ qù lǚyóu.While I have a holiday now, we can go traveling.
• 趁 孩子 睡着 的 时候，我 洗 了 很 多 衣服。Chèn háizi shuìzháo de shíhòu, wǒ xǐle hěnduō yīfú.While the kids were asleep, I washed a lot of clothes.
• 妹妹 经常 趁 我 不 在家 的时候，玩 我 的 电脑。Mèimei jīngcháng chèn wǒ bù zàijiā de shíhòu, wán wǒ de diànnǎo.My younger sister often plays with my computer when I am not at home.
• 小偷 一定 是 趁 我 不 注意 的 时候 ，把 我 的 手机 偷走 的。Xiǎotōu yīdìng shì chèn wǒ bù zhùyì de shíhòu, bǎ wǒ de shǒujī tōu zǒu de.The thief must have stolen my cell phone when I wasn't paying attention.

Sources and further reading

Books

• Short-term Spoken Chinese: Pre-Intermediate (汉语口语速成提高篇) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• 现代汉语八百词（增订本） (pp. 116) [ →buy]

Dictionaries

• 现代汉语词典（第5版） (pp. 169) 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 →buy

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