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 老板 不 在，我们 出去 吃 饭 吧。When the boss wasn't here, we went out to eat.
• 趁 年轻，你们 快 点儿 结婚 吧。You guys should hurry up and get married while you're still young.
• 趁 孩子 睡着 的 时候，我 洗 了 很 多 衣服。While the kids were asleep, I washed a lot of clothes.
• 趁 天气 好，我 要 去 野餐。While the weather is good, I'm going on a picnic.

Sources and further reading

Books

• Short-term Spoken Chinese: Pre-Intermediate (汉语口语速成提高篇) →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) →buy

HSK5