HSK 6 grammar · conjunction
时而…时而…
时而…时而… — now …, now … (alternation)
Pattern
+ +
( ) can be left out · other words may come before, between and after
How it works
时而…时而… links two alternating situations that recur — "sometimes …, sometimes …", "now …, now …". It describes changeable, back-and-forth conditions in a somewhat formal tone.
Examples
山里的天气时而晴，时而雨。
Shānlǐ de tiānqì shí'ér qíng, shí'ér yǔ.
The mountain weather is now clear, now rainy.
他时而高兴，时而难过，情绪很不稳定。
Tā shí'ér gāoxìng, shí'ér nánguò, qíngxù hěn bù wěndìng.
He's now happy, now sad — very moody.
湖面上时而有鸟飞过。
Húmiàn shàng shí'ér yǒu niǎo fēiguò.
From time to time a bird flew over the lake.
Related
See it in a story
In the app, 时而…时而… is underlined wherever it appears in the stories you read, and practised with sentences from them. Free.