Dictionary › 偶尔

偶尔

ǒu ěr

Old HSK 4 HSK 3.0 level 4 2-character word Traditional 偶爾

偶尔 (ǒu ěr) means "occasionally". It is an HSK 3.0 level 4 word, and was HSK 4 in the old six-level list.

What 偶尔 means

1. occasionally
2. once in a while
3. sometimes

How 偶尔 is used in grammar

偶尔 is a grammar word. Each link goes to its own section: what it does in that pattern, the structure, three example sentences with pinyin, and the mistake to avoid.

• Attitude adverbs: 偏偏/偶尔/竟然/随便 (HSK 4)
• Frequency & Manner Adverbs: 偶尔、再次、偷偷 (HSK 5)

The official HSK 3.0 grammar outline lists it at level 4, adverbs (频率副词).

The characters in 偶尔

• 偶ǒuaccidental; image; pair
• 尔ěrthus; so; like that

Example sentences

• 我偶尔做。
  I seldom do that.
• 他偶尔逃学。
  He is sometimes absent from school.
• 我偶尔打网球。
  I play tennis once in a while.
• 它偶尔会发生。
  It happens occasionally.
• 露西偶尔拜访梅。
  Lucy sometimes visits May.
• 我们偶尔去钓鱼。
  We go fishing once in a while.

Where 偶尔 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of Time adverbs & temporal expressions (HSK 4), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 4 word, with the rest of its level.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read ǒu ěr correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.