one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire; whole; all; throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit

of; ~'s (possessive particle) / (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun) / (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis) / (used after a noun, verb or adjective to form a nominal expression, as in 皮革的 "one made of leather" or 跑堂兒的｜跑堂儿的 "a waiter (literally, one who runs back and forth in a restaurant)" or 新的 "new one") / also pr. [di4] or [di5] in poetry and songs

to go / to go to (a place) / (of a time etc) last / just passed / to send / to remove / to get rid of / to reduce / to be apart from in space or time / to die (euphemism) / to play (a part) / (when used either before or after a verb) to go in order to do sth / (after a verb of motion indicates movement away from the speaker) / (used after certain verbs to indicate detachment or separation)

to wait for; to await / by the time; when; till / and so on; etc.; et al. / (bound form) class; rank; grade / (bound form) equal to; same as / (used to end an enumeration) / (literary) (plural suffix attached to a personal pronoun or noun)

in case (sth happens) / if / once (sth happens, then...) / when / in a short time / in one day

to wait until / by the time when (sth is ready etc)

square / power or involution (math.) / upright / honest / fair and square / direction / side / party (to a contract, dispute etc) / place / method / prescription (medicine) / just when / only or just / classifier for square things / abbr. for square or cubic meter

finally / in the end / when all is said and done / after all / to the end / to the last

replaces 啊 when following the vowel "u" or "ao"

to be / to act as / manage / withstand / when / during / ought / should / match equally / equal / same / obstruct / just at (a time or place) / on the spot / right / just at

to go to the bottom of a matter / after all / when all is said and done / (in an interrogative sentence) finally / outcome / result

o'clock / time / when / hour / season / period

in the evening / when night falls / towards evening / at night fall / at dusk

after all / all in all / when all is said and done / in the final analysis

mimosa / sensitive plant (that closes its leaves when touched)

the whole family / the same family / the family ... (when preceded by a family name) / group

only if (..., or otherwise, ...) / only when / only in the case that / unless

lit. when a person attains enlightenment and immortality, even his chickens and dogs will ascend to heaven with him (idiom) / fig. when somebody attains a position of power and influence, their relatives and friends also benefit

double seven festival, evening of seventh of lunar seventh month / girls' festival / Chinese Valentine's day, when Cowherd and Weaving maid 牛郎織女｜牛郎织女 are allowed their annual meeting

Ghost Festival on 15th day of 7th lunar month when offerings are made to the deceased

Correct! / Oh, that's right, ... (when one suddenly remembers sth one wanted to mention) / Oh, by the way, ...

cave / hole / zero (unambiguous spoken form when spelling out numbers) / CL: 個｜个

ultimately / in the final analysis / after all / when all is said and done

when the time comes / at the scheduled time

sorry to interrupt you, but ... / sorry to have bothered you / sorry, I have to go / (slang) (coined c. 2017) used facetiously to terminate a conversation (esp. online) when the other person is being insufferable

lit. (when a person attains enlightenment and immortality), even his chickens and dogs will ascend to heaven with him (idiom) / fig. (when somebody attains a position of power and influence), their relatives and friends also benefit / (2nd half of the saying 一人得道，雞犬升天｜一人得道，鸡犬升天)

when?; at what time?

(idiom) when views are irreconcilable, it's a waste of breath to continue discussion

lit. when the nest overturns no egg remains intact / no member escapes unscathed from a family disaster (idiom)

eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) / aubergine / brinjal / Guinea squash / phonetic "cheese" (when being photographed) / equivalent of "say cheese"

lit. when everybody gathers fuel, the flames are higher (proverb) / fig. the more people, the more strength

what time? / when?

customer; visitor; guest / classifier for servings or portions (when ordering food)

only when absolutely essential (idiom); as a last resort

(archaic) agate / (bound form) standard weight used with a balance scale / number / (computing) code / (clothing) size / yard (unit of length) / (coll.) kilometers per hour (informal misuse of "yard" to mean kph in speed references) / (coll.) to pile up; to stack / classifier for matters, items, situations etc (esp. when indicating whether they are the same or different, as in 不是一碼事｜不是一码事 "not the same thing") / (Tw, HK) (finance) unit of 25 basis points (i.e. a 0.25% change in interest rate)

Qixi Festival or Double Seven Festival on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month / girls' festival / Chinese Valentine's day, when Cowherd and Weaving maid 牛郎織女｜牛郎织女 are allowed their annual meeting

an extra strong type of Sichuan pepper, dark green when ripe but light brown after air drying

to brake (when driving) / to stop / to switch off / to check (bad habits) / a brake

(Tw) gift given when visiting sb (esp. a local specialty brought back from one's travels, or a special product of one's own country taken overseas)

(Islam) Friday, when Muslims go to the mosque before noon to attend congregational prayers

used in 彷彿｜仿佛 / (Note: While 仿 is not officially designated as the simplified form of 彷, it serves as the de facto simplification when 彷 is pronounced fǎng.)

to seek help (when in distress or having difficulties)

half of the country (esp. when half the country has fallen into enemy hands) / vast swathe of territory

when things reach an extreme, they can only move in the opposite direction (idiom)

term used by a teacher or master to refer to themself when speaking to their student

beat the drum, pass the flower (game in which players sit in a circle passing a flower around while a drum is beaten – when the drumbeat stops, the player holding the flower must sing a song, answer a question, or drink a glass of wine etc)

as for / when it comes to

(idiom) when you hit bottom, you have to come up with a new approach

when

nine divide by nine is one (abacus rule) / when all is said and done

lit. when a man stands straight, he doesn't worry that his shadow is slanting (saying) / fig. as long as one conducts oneself honorably, one need not worry about what people think; a clean hand wants no washing

(rhetorical question) when? / how? / it's not that...

lit. family members speak frankly with one another, not courteously, as if they were from two different families (idiom) / fig. people don't need to be deferential when they ask a family member for help / people from the same family should stick together (and good friends likewise)

to do sth when least expected (idiom); to catch sb off guard

(idiom) it's the most capable people who do the most work (intended as consolation for the overworked, or flattery when making a request etc)

lit. to never burn incense when all's well, but clutch Buddha's feet in a crisis (proverb) / fig. to neglect preparation until the last moment, then act in panic

at what time?; when?

lit. where water flows, a canal is formed (idiom) / fig. when conditions are right, success will follow naturally

one's share of expenses (e.g. when buying a gift collectively) / cash gift

wish you all the best! (when signing off on a correspondence)

(idiom based on Sunzi's "The Art of War" 孫子兵法｜孙子兵法) to deploy one's troops in such a way that there is no possibility of retreat, so that they will fight for their lives and win the battle; to fight desperately when confronted with mortal danger; to find a way to emerge from a dire situation

to advance or retreat / knowing when to come and when to leave / a sense of propriety

turtle's egg (highly offensive when directed at sb)

(allusion to Tao Qian 陶潛｜陶潜, who used this phrase when he resigned from government service rather than show subservience to a visiting inspector) to bow and scrape for five pecks of rice (that being a part of his salary as a local magistrate) / (fig.) to compromise one's principles for the sake of a salary

on this (occasion) / at this time when ... / on this occasion

to the greatest extent / (when used before a noun of location) furthest or extreme / to be within the limits of / to give priority to

when you teach someone, both teacher and student will benefit

to be in love when one is too young; puppy love

to stretch oneself (on waking or when tired etc)

lit. when someone tells you you're fat, you pant (as if you were actually fat) (idiom) / fig. Hey! I pay you a compliment, and you start bragging! (typically jocular and teasing) / flattery, like perfume, should be smelled, not swallowed

lit. to intervene when one sees an injustice (idiom) / fig. to rush to the rescue / to play the white knight

a wise man knows better than to fight when the odds are against him (idiom)

combined Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day (occurring when the Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋節｜中秋节 falls on October 1st, as in 1982, 2001 and 2020) / binodal / two-section

to drop off; to fall off; (of hair, teeth etc) to fall out / to omit (a character when writing)

(archaic) term used by a husband to refer to himself when speaking to his wife

to deduct marks (when grading school work) / to have marks deducted / penalty points / to lose points for a penalty or error

(idiom) to find a way to survive when everything seems hopeless

lit. when up to one's ears in debt, one ceases to worry about it (idiom) / fig. to be past worrying (about sth)

lit. peace when you come or go / peace wherever you go

pressed tofu; dried tofu (ingredient of Chinese cuisine made by pressing, drying and flavoring tofu to produce a firm chewy block, typically cut into thin strips when preparing a dish)

to get sth open by tapping or striking it / (figuratively, when followed by sth like ∼的大門｜∼的大门) to open the door to ~ / to gain access to ~

when two kingdoms are at war, they don't execute envoys (idiom)

Hongmen feast / (fig.) banquet set up with the aim of murdering a guest / refers to a famous episode in 206 BC when future Han emperor Liu Bang 劉邦｜刘邦 escaped attempted murder by his rival Xiang Yu 項羽｜项羽

(idiom) one declines while the other flourishes; one loses out when the other one gains (as in a trade-off or a zero-sum game)

to close (flower, eyes, suitcase etc) / to bring together / (insect or bird when not flying) to fold (its wings)

When the tree topples the monkeys scatter. (idiom); fig. an opportunist abandons an unfavorable cause / Rats leave a sinking ship.

men and women should not touch hands when they give or receive things (citation, from Mencius)

(one's) original intention, aspiration etc / (Buddhism) "beginner's mind" (i.e. having an attitude of openness when studying a subject just as a beginner in that subject would)

mojibake (nonsense characters displayed when software fails to render text according to its intended character encoding)

when it rains, it pours (idiom)

(idiom) the benefit reaped by a third party when two sides are locked in a dispute

can't afford to play / (fig.) can't accept it when one loses

lit. when you enter a country, follow the local customs (idiom) / fig. when in Rome, do as the Romans do

(idiom) Zhu Yun breaks the railing (Zhu Yun was a Han Dynasty official who accused the emperor's tutor of corruption, and when sentenced to death, clung to the palace hall railing so fiercely while demanding justice that he broke it); (fig.) to speak the truth with unwavering courage; to admonish fearlessly / also pr. [zhu1yun2-she2jian4]

lit. when the boat reaches the bridge, it will pass underneath without trouble (proverb) / fig. everything will be all right

to step on the brake / to brake (when driving)

that one / that thing / that (as opposed to this) / (used before a verb or adjective for emphasis) / (used to humorously or indirectly refer to sth embarrassing, funny etc, or when one can't think of the right word) / (used in speech as a filler, similar to "umm", "you know" etc) / (euph.) menstruation / sex / also pr. [nei4 ge5]

to exclude / not including sth (when counting or listing) / except for

tone of one's voice when asking a rhetorical question

lit. when a wall is about to collapse, everybody gives it a shove (idiom) / fig. everybody hits a man who is down