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三不五時

简三不五时 · 繁三不五時

Mandarin · pinyin sān bù wǔ shí

(Tw) from time to time
frequently

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Characters in this entry

三: sān · three
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
五: wǔ · five; surname
時: shí · time, season; era, age, period
时: shí · time, season; era, age, period

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–4–3–2 · san1 bu4 wu3 shi2

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

三不五時 · find source passages ↗ · 三不五时 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

saam1 bat1 ng5 si4

Cantonese word readings for 三不五時. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(Cantonese, Southern Min, Taiwanese Mandarin, Taiwanese Hakka) sometimes; from time to time; occasionally; now and then

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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