Expressing "when" with "shi"

By now you should now how to express "when" using "的时候" (de shíhou). But there's also a slightly shorter, more formal way to do it: simply use 时 (shí) all by itself. (No 的!)

Structure

(Subj. +) Verb / Adj. + 时 + Predicate

The predicate part of the pattern can be a verb or an adjective.

As time words can appear before or after the subject, you can also place the Time + 时 (shí) after the subject.

There are two great examples of this pattern in the poem below.

你

一会儿看我

一会儿看云

你看我时很远

你看云时很近

考试时不要说话。Kǎoshì shí bùyào shuōhuà.Don't talk when you take a test.
面试时我经常会问这个问题。Miànshì shí wǒ jīngcháng huì wèn zhège wèntí.I often ask this question in a job interview.
会议结束时老板才来。Huìyì jiéshù shí lǎobǎn cái lái.The boss didn't show up until the meeting was over.
我生气时不想说话。Wǒ shēngqì shí bù xiǎng shuōhuà.I don't want to talk when I'm angry.
他们结婚时什么都没有。Tāmen jiéhūn shí shénme dōu méiyǒu.They barely own anything when they got married.
大学毕业时，他们分手了。Dàxué bìyè shí, tāmen fēnshǒu le.When they graduated, they broke up.
飞机起飞时，他关了手机和电脑。Fēijī qǐfēi shí, tā guān le shǒujī hé diànnǎo.When the plane took off, he turned off his cell phone and computer.
他去世时儿女都不在身边。Tā qùshì shí érnǚ dōu bù zài shēnbiān.His parents weren't home when he passed away.
我们公司成立时只有三个人。Wǒmen gōngsī chénglì shí zhǐyǒu sān gè rén.There were only three people when this company was founded.
跟别人说话时不要玩手机。Gēn biérén shuōhuà shí bùyào wán shǒujī.Don't play with your cell phone when you talk with other people.