Comparing "changchang" and "jingchang"

Both 常常 (chángcháng) and 经常 (jīngcháng) are used to mean "often" or "frequently." In most circumstances, 常常 (chángcháng) and 经常 (jīngcháng) can be used interchangeably. Both can be used in formal and informal settings, although 经常 (jīngcháng) is more common in spoken Chinese.

	常常 (chángcháng)	经常 (jīngcháng)
Meaning	often, frequently	often, frequently
Part of Speech	adverb	adverb (mostly)
Formality	flexible	flexible

常常 (chángcháng) and 经常 (jīngcháng) are generally interchangeable

In the following sentences, it is fine to use either 常常 or 经常.

我经常坐地铁去上班。Wǒ jīngcháng zuò dìtiě qù shàngbān.I often take the metro to work.
同事对我很好，经常帮我。Tóngshì duì wǒ hěn hǎo, jīngcháng bāng wǒ.My colleagues are very nice to me and help me a lot.
这个孩子很不听话经常发脾气。Zhège háizi hěn bù tīnghuà jīngcháng fā píqì.This child is very disobedient and often throws tantrums.
我最近常常练习说中文。Wǒ zuìjìn chángcháng liànxí shuō Zhōngwén.I have been practising speaking Chinese a lot recently.
我经常早上六点起床。Wǒ jīngcháng zǎoshang liù diǎn qǐchuáng.I often get up at 6am.
周末我经常去那家饭店吃饭。Zhōumò wǒ jīngcháng qù nàjiā fàndiàn chīfàn.I often go to that restaurant for dinner on weekends.
我常常加班。Wǒ chángcháng jiābān.I work overtime a lot.
我经常去出差。Wǒ jīngcháng qù chūchāi.I often go on business trips.
我经常用微信和朋友视频。Wǒ jīngcháng yòng Wēixìn hé péngyou shìpín.I often use WeChat to video with my friends.
周末我常常跟朋友聊天。Zhōumò wǒchángcháng gēn péngyou liáotiān.I often chat with my friends on weekends.
飞机经常晚点。Fēijī jīngcháng wǎndiǎn.Flights are often late.
我和女朋友常常去公园散步。Wǒ hé nǚpéngyou chángcháng qù gōngyuán sànbù.My girlfriend and I often go for walks in the park.

You can negate both 常常 (chángcháng) and 经常 (jīngcháng) with 不常 (bù cháng)

This is something that's a bit special about both words: when you add 不 to make them negative, you can also drop the first character, resulting in 不常 (bù cháng) for either one.

我不常坐地铁去上班。Wǒ bùcháng zuò dìtiě qù shàngbān.I don't often take the metro to work.
我喜欢自己做饭，所以我不常叫外卖。Wǒ xǐhuan zìjǐ zuòfàn, suǒyǐ wǒ bùcháng jiào wàimài.I like to cook for myself, so I don't often order takeout.
我们的销售经理经常出差，我们在公司不常看到他。Wǒmen de xiāoshòu jīnglǐ jīngcháng chūchāi, wǒmen zài gōngsī bùcháng kàn dào tā.Our sales manager travels a lot and we don't see him at work very often.

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 the use of 经常 and a grammar-based comparison of 常常 and 经常 please click here to visit our Grammar Wiki page: Grammar Wiki comparing “changchang” and “jingchang”

Sources and further reading

Books

《现代汉语八百词》