次 (cì): time (occurrence)

Meanings

1 time (occurrence)
2 next; secondary

Characters

次

cì

time (occurrence); next; second

Examples

我去过两次中国。

Wǒ qù guò liǎng cì Zhōngguó.

I've been to China twice.

下次见！

Xiàcì jiàn!

See you next time!

这是我第一次来这里。

Zhè shì wǒ dìyī cì lái zhèlǐ.

This is my first time here.

Tips

grammar

次 is a measure word for the number of times something happens. It goes after the number: 一次 (once), 两次 (twice), 三次 (three times).

usage

下次 means 'next time,' 上次 means 'last time,' and 每次 means 'every time.'

Components

radical

欠 qiàn

to yawn; lack; owe

Right indexing radical 欠 — a person with mouth agape, originally 'yawning' or 'breathing out'. In 次 the yawning person waits for their turn — 'next in line'. Same radical drives 欢 (happy, open-mouth joy), 歌 (sing), 歇 (rest, take a breath). Combined with 冫 it gives 'second yawn = next time'.

semantic

冫 bīng

ice (two-drop radical)

Left side 冫 — two strokes that look like ice droplets, originally 二 (two) marking 'second, next'. In 次 it functions less as 'ice' than as a sequence-marker: one done, the next up. The 冫 shape is also a 1956-style smoothing of an older 二. Same shape in 冰 (ice), 冷 (cold), 冬 (winter).