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

  • 年轻,多 去 玩玩 吧。Chèn niánqīng, duō qù wán wán ba.You guys should go have more fun while you're still young.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 孩子 睡着 的 时候,我 洗 了 很 多 衣服。Chèn háizi shuìzhe de shíhòu, wǒ xǐle hěnduō yīfú.While the kids were asleep, I washed a lot of clothes.
  • 小偷 一定 是 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.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

Dictionaries

HSK5