DICTIONARY
The Chinese word hou - 候 - hòu
(to wait for in Chinese)
Phonetic script (Hanyu Pinyin)
hòu
Listen to pronunciation
(Mandarin = standard Chinese without accent)
You're listening to the natural voice of a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese.
English translations
to wait for, season, to inquire, time,
to await
Chinese character and stroke order animation"How do I write 候 ( hòu ) correctly?"
The strokes that all Chinese characters are composed of are to be written in a certain order which has originally been defined by Chinese calligraphy. Writing all characters according to the same rules assures that their intended shape and style are generally preserved even if written by different writers.
This dictionary shows you the correct stroke order as an animation for all characters so you can learn and understand how to write the character correctly. :
The strokes that all Chinese characters are composed of are to be written in a certain order which has originally been defined by Chinese calligraphy. Writing all characters according to the same rules assures that their intended shape and style are generally preserved even if written by different writers.
This dictionary shows you the correct stroke order as an animation for all characters so you can learn and understand how to write the character correctly. :
The traditional Chinese characters of hòu are identical with the modern (simplified) characters displayed above.
Chinese Pinyin example sentence with 候 ( hou / hòu ) ⓘWriting in Pinyin
Before using this Pinyin example sentence, consider that Chinese characters should always be your first choice in written communication.
If you cannot use Chinese characters, it is preferable to use the Pinyin with tones. Only use the Pinyin without tones if there's no other option (e.g. writing a text message from/to a mobile phone that doesn't support special characters such as ā, í, ǒ, ù).
Before using this Pinyin example sentence, consider that Chinese characters should always be your first choice in written communication.
If you cannot use Chinese characters, it is preferable to use the Pinyin with tones. Only use the Pinyin without tones if there's no other option (e.g. writing a text message from/to a mobile phone that doesn't support special characters such as ā, í, ǒ, ù).
Qing zai houcheshi deng che.
Qǐng zài hòuchēshì děng chē.– English translation: Please wait in the waiting room.
Character complexity
候 is composed of 10 strokes and therefore is of average complexity compared to the other simplified Chinese characters (average: 13.1 strokes).
Tags and additional information
(Meaning of individual characters, character components etc.)
candidate | to greet somebody
候 ( hou / hòu ) belongs to the 500 most common Chinese characters (rank 354)
候 ( hou / hòu ) belongs to the 500 most common Chinese characters (rank 354)
Chinese example words containing the character 候 ( hou / hòu )
Other characters that are pronounced hòu in Chinese
More words that mean to wait for in Chinese
dài ( 待 )
Report missing or erroneous translation of hou in English
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All words in this dictionary (more to come) were taken from the multimedia Chinese learning software Han Trainer Pro.
This Chinese-English dictionary is currently under development.
This Chinese-English dictionary is currently under development.
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Version 5.52 / Last updated: 2026-11-03