HSK 3 grammar · conjunction
一会儿…一会儿
一会儿…一会儿… — now … now … (alternating)
Pattern
+ +
( ) can be left out · other words may come before, between and after
How it works
一会儿 … 一会儿 … lists actions or states that keep switching back and forth over a short time — "one moment …, the next …". It often suggests restlessness or changeability.
Examples
他一会儿哭，一会儿笑。
Tā yíhuìr kū, yíhuìr xiào.
One moment he cries, the next he laughs.
天气一会儿晴，一会儿阴。
Tiānqì yíhuìr qíng, yíhuìr yīn.
The weather is now sunny, now cloudy.
孩子一会儿要这个，一会儿要那个。
Háizi yíhuìr yào zhège, yíhuìr yào nàge.
The child wants this one moment and that the next.
Related
See it in a story
In the app, 一会儿…一会儿 is underlined wherever it appears in the stories you read, and practised with sentences from them. Free.