Comparing "changchang" and "jingchang"

Both 常常 (chángcháng) and 经常 (jīngcháng) mean "often" or “frequently”.

In most circumstances 常常 and 经常 can be used interchangeably.

	常常 (chángcháng)	经常 (jīngcháng)
Meaning	usually	habitually or routinely
Part of Speech	adverb	adverb and adjective
Formality	formal and informal	formal and informal

The key difference between these words is 常常 emphasizes usually (more often than not), whereas 经常 emphasizes habitually or routinely (a repeated patterned action).

Similarities

Common Phrases

These phrases work with both 常常 AND 经常:

• ～生病
• ～锻炼身体
• ～看电视
• ～玩电脑
• ～迟到
• ～逃课
• ～撒谎
• ～受到批评
• ～逛街

Example Sentences

In the following sentences, 常常 AND 经常 both can be used interchangeably:

Differences

Example Sentences

In the following sentences, it is best to use 经常（habitually or routinely repeated actions):

Advanced Differences

经常 is an adjective as well as an adverb, therefore it can be used differently than 常常. For more details on other uses of 经常 and a grammar-based comparison of 经常 and 常常 please click on this link to our grammar wiki page.