Opportune timing with "chen"

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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

Note that in English using the literal translation "take advantage of" often isn't natural.

  • 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.
  • 现在 不 忙,你 快 走 吧。Chèn xiànzài bùmáng, nǐ kuài zǒu ba.Go now, while no one is busy.
  • 这个 机会 ,我们 见 个 面 吧。Chèn zhège jīhuì, wǒmen jiàn gè miàn ba.Let's take this opportunity to meet up.
  • 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.
  • 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 打 一会儿 游戏 吧。Chèn lǎobǎn bù zài, wǒmen dǎ yīhuìr yóuxì ba.While the boss is out, we can play video games for a little while.
  • 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 vacation days, we can go traveling.
  • 孩子 睡着 的 时候,我 洗 了 很 多 衣服。Chèn háizi shuìzháo de shíhou, wǒ xǐ le hěn duō yīfu.Since the kids had fallen asleep, I washed a bunch of clothes.
  • 妹妹 经常 我 不 在家 的时候 ,玩 我 的 电脑。Mèimei jīngcháng chèn wǒ bù zài jiā de shíhou, wán wǒ de diànnǎo.My little sister often plays with my computer when I am not at home.
  • 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 shíhou, 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

Dictionaries

HSK5