Expressing "how often"

Asking "how often" is one of those things that seems so simple in English but relatively complicated in Chinese. The way to ask in Chinese is, literally, "how long of a time" (do something) "one time." So you'll need the phrases 多长时间 (duō cháng shíjiān) and 一次 (yī cì).

1 Asking about Frequency

1.1 Structure
1.2 Examples

2 Talking about Frequency in General

2.1 Structure
2.2 Examples

3 When NOT to use this pattern
4 See also
5 Sources and further reading

5.1 Books

Asking about Frequency

Structure

Examples

你的手机多长时间充电一次？ Nǐ de shǒujī duō cháng shíjiān chōngdiàn yī cì?
你的手机多长时间充一次电？ Nǐ de shǒujī duō cháng shíjiān chōng yī cì diàn? How often do you charge your phone?
你多长时间剪头发一次？ Nǐ duō cháng shíjiān jiǎn tóufa yī cì?
你多长时间剪一次头发？ Nǐ duō cháng shíjiān jiǎn yī cì tóufa? How often do you cut your hair?
你多长时间刮胡子一次？ Nǐ duō cháng shíjiān guā húzi yī cì?
你多长时间刮一次胡子？ Nǐ duō cháng shíjiān guā yī cì húzi? How often do you shave?

Talking about Frequency in General

Structure

Examples

我一周给妈妈打两次电话。 Wǒ yī zhōu gěi māma dǎ liǎng cì diànhuà. I give mom a call twice a week.
我们公司一周开一次会。 Wǒmen gōngsī yī zhōu kāi yī cì huì. Our company holds one meeting per week.
我两个月剪一次头发。 Wǒ liǎng gè yuè jiǎn yī cì tóufa. I cut my hair every two months.
我的手机两天充一次电。 Wǒ de shǒujī liǎng tiān chōng yī cì diàn. I charge my phone every two days.
这种药四个小时吃一次。 Zhè zhǒng yào sì gè xiǎoshí chī yī cì. Take this medicine every four hours.
你应该半年做一次体检。 Nǐ yīnggāi bàn nián zuò yī cì tǐjiǎn. You should have a physical examination every half of a year.

When NOT to use this pattern

The thing about using the pattern above is that it's expected that the activity is done regularly, as part of a habit. If it's not an activity that's regularly engaged in, it's weird to use the pattern. Consider the following examples:

你多长时间换一个手机？ Nǐ duō cháng shíjiān huàn yī gè shǒujī? How often do you buy a new cell phone?
你多长时间加一次班？ Nǐ duō cháng shíjiān jiā yī cì bān? How often do you work overtime?
你多长时间吃一次牛油果？ Nǐ duō cháng shíjiān chī yī cì niúyóuguǒ? How often do you eat avocado?

In these cases, the speaker is trying to get any idea of how often the other person does something, regardless of how regular or habitual it is. In this case, just use 经常 (or similar) to ask about it.

你经常换手机吗？ Nǐ jīngcháng huàn shǒujī ma? Do you often buy a new cell phone?
你经常加班吗？ Nǐ jīngcháng jiābān ma? Do you often work late?
你很少吃牛油果吧？ Nǐ hěnshǎo chī niúyóuguǒ ba? You rarely eat avocado, right?

Expressing "how often"

Contents

Asking about Frequency

Structure

Examples

Talking about Frequency in General

Structure

Examples

When NOT to use this pattern

See also

Sources and further reading

Books