乍暖还寒

乍暖還寒

zhànuǎn-huánhán

idiom

Meanings

1 warm one moment, cold the next
2 (of early spring weather) alternating between warm and cold

Characters

to return; again

Examples

HSK 3

这几天乍暖还寒，很容易感冒。

Zhè jǐ tiān zhànuǎnhuánhán, hěn róngyì gǎnmào.

The past few days have been warm then cold again - easy to catch a cold.

HSK 7-9

春天乍暖还寒，要注意保暖。

Chūntiān zhànuǎnhuánhán, yào zhùyì bǎonuǎn.

Spring swings between warm and cold - be careful to stay warm.

Tips

history

From Li Qingzhao's 《声声慢》 (Song dynasty): "乍暖还寒时候，最难将息" - "at that warm-then-cold time, it's hardest to recover." One of the most quoted lines in classical ci poetry.

mistakes

还 here is read huán (4th tone, "return; again"), NOT hái ("still"). The phrase means "just warm, then cold returns."

Stroke Order

乍 zhà

暖 nuǎn

还 hái

寒 hán