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曾幾何時

简曾几何时 · 繁曾幾何時

Mandarin · pinyin céng jǐ hé shí

just a while before
not so long ago
everyone can remember when..

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Characters in this entry

曾: céng · already; sign of past
幾: jǐ · how many? how much?; a few, some
何: hé · what, why, where, which, how
時: shí · time, season; era, age, period
几: jǐ · small table
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

2–3–2–2 · ceng2 ji3 he2 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.

曾幾何時 · find source passages ↗ · 曾几何时 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cang4 gei2 ho4 si4

Cantonese word readings for 曾幾何時. 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

(prescriptive) before long
(often proscribed) in the past; once

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

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