How to Say ‘When did it start?’ in Traditional Chinese
什麼時候開始的？
shén me shí hòu kāi shǐ de
[shénme shíhòu kāishǐ de]
Phrase Breakdown
什麼時候
shén me shí hòu
when
什麼時候 (shénme shíhou) means 'when' and literally 'what time'. 候 is said lightly.
你什麼時候來？
When are you coming?
Words in this phrase
什麼
shén me
[shénme]
what
Question word for 'what'.
你想買什麼？
What do you want to buy?
時候
shí hòu
[shíhòu]
time; moment
With 什麼 it asks 'when'.
你小時候住哪裡？
Where did you live when you were little?
開始的？
kāi shǐ de
did it start?
開始 (kāishǐ) means 'to start'. The final 的 (de) stresses when something already happened.
比賽開始了。
The game has started.
Words in this phrase
開始
kāi shǐ
[kāishǐ]
to start; to begin
Verb meaning to begin an action or event.
會議九點開始。
The meeting starts at nine.
的
de
[de]
(emphasis on past detail)
Used in the 是...的 pattern to stress when, where, or how something past happened.
你是昨天來的嗎？
Did you come yesterday?
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