At the same time: 与此同时
HSK 6 Unit 4: Causes and consequences · Lesson 4 of 5 · About 26 minutes
Preview version — Chinese review in progress.
Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can report two things happening at once with 与此同时, and follow a short news report about a new metro line.
Audio preview uses your device’s Chinese voice. It is not a recording.
Warm-up: do you remember?
Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.
Meaning
What does 名气 mean?
That is 宁可 (nìngkě).
That is 地震 (dìzhèn).
Show the answer
Answer: B, fame, reputation.
名气 (míngqi) means fame, reputation.
Characters
Which word means “so as not to, in order to avoid”?
薪水 (xīnshuǐ) means salary, pay.
尊严 (zūnyán) means dignity.
Show the answer
Answer: C, 以免.
“so as not to, in order to avoid” is 以免 (yǐmiǎn).
Listening
From an earlier unit. Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
价值 jiàzhí
That would be 期望 (qīwàng).
That would be 失望 (shīwàng).
Show the answer
Answer: B, value.
You heard 价值 (jiàzhí): value.
New words
与此同时
与此同时 (yǔ cǐ tóngshí) starts a new sentence about something happening at the same time: meanwhile. It is common in news and reports. 同时 alone can join two parts of one sentence.
城市的人口越来越多。与此同时，房价也越来越高。
Chéngshì de rénkǒu yuèláiyuè duō. Yǔ cǐ tóngshí, fángjià yě yuèláiyuè gāo.
The city's population keeps growing. At the same time, housing prices keep rising.
公司提高了工资，与此同时也增加了工作时间。
Gōngsī tígāo le gōngzī, yǔ cǐ tóngshí yě zēngjiā le gōngzuò shíjiān.
The company raised wages and, at the same time, increased working hours.
Characters
Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.
New metro line opens
A short report on the local news.
Listen first
Play the whole text and answer the questions before you open it.
Helpful words: 大型 dàxíng large-scale; 号线 hàoxiàn (metro) line number; 早晚高峰 zǎowǎn gāofēng morning and evening rush hours; 公交 gōngjiāo bus; 票价 piàojià fare
Listening
Listen first. Which line opened today?
Show the answer
Answer: C, Line 8.
地铁八号线今天正式开通.
Listening
How did residents commute before?
Show the answer
Answer: A, only by bus.
只能坐公交.
Listening
What did the government also announce?
Show the answer
Answer: B, two more new lines next year.
明年将再开通两条新线路.
Show the text
本市的地铁八号线今天正式开通。
The city's Metro Line 8 officially opened today.
这条线路经过城市北部的几个大型居民区。
The line runs through several large residential areas in the north of the city.
以前，这里的居民上下班只能坐公交，早晚高峰非常拥挤。
Before, residents here could only take the bus to and from work, and rush hours were extremely crowded.
八号线开通以后，交通压力将得到很大的缓解。
Once Line 8 is open, the pressure on transport will be greatly eased.
与此同时，市政府还宣布，明年将再开通两条新线路。
Meanwhile, the city government also announced that two more new lines will open next year.
八号线的票价跟其他线路一样。
Line 8 fares are the same as on the other lines.
Speak: listen, record, compare
Listen to each model, record yourself, then play both and compare: the rhythm, the tones, the vowels. No automatic score: your ear is the judge.
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Recording is not available in this browser. Listen, then repeat aloud and compare by ear.
与此同时，市政府还宣布，明年将再开通两条新线路。
Yǔ cǐ tóngshí, shì zhèngfǔ hái xuānbù, míngnián jiāng zài kāitōng liǎng tiáo xīn xiànlù.
Meanwhile, the city government also announced that two more new lines will open next year.
这条线路经过城市北部的几个大型居民区。
Zhè tiáo xiànlù jīngguò chéngshì běibù de jǐ gè dàxíng jūmín qū.
The line runs through several large residential areas in the north of the city.
八号线开通以后，交通压力将得到很大的缓解。
Bā hàoxiàn kāitōng yǐhòu, jiāotōng yālì jiāng dédào hěn dà de huǎnjiě.
Once Line 8 is open, the pressure on transport will be greatly eased.
Practice
Meaning
What does 与此同时 mean?
That is 居民 (jūmín).
That is 书店 (shūdiàn).
Show the answer
Answer: C, at the same time, meanwhile.
与此同时 (yǔ cǐ tóngshí) means at the same time, meanwhile.
Characters
Which word means “to open (a line or service)”?
出口 (chūkǒu) means exit.
拥挤 (yōngjǐ) means crowded.
Show the answer
Answer: B, 开通.
“to open (a line or service)” is 开通 (kāitōng).
Pinyin
How do you read 缓解 (to ease, to relieve)?
Show the answer
Answer: B, huǎnjiě.
缓解 is read huǎnjiě. Check the tone mark on every syllable.
Listening
Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
拥挤 yōngjǐ
That would be 毫无 (háowú).
That would be 网络 (wǎngluò).
Show the answer
Answer: C, crowded.
You heard 拥挤 (yōngjǐ): crowded.
Your turn
Recall: type the Chinese for “line, route” (characters or pinyin).
Show the answer
Answer: 线路
“line, route” is 线路 (xiànlù).
Reading
Read: 商场开业的第一天非常拥挤。与此同时，附近的小商店却没什么人。 What happened at the small shops nearby?
Show the answer
Answer: A, there were hardly any customers.
附近的小商店却没什么人.
Grammar
Which phrase starts a new sentence about something happening at the same time?
Show the answer
Answer: C, 与此同时.
与此同时: meanwhile.
In context
On the morning metro, people can hardly move. How is it?
Show the answer
Answer: C, 拥挤.
拥挤: crowded.
Your turn
Type the Chinese for resident
Show the answer
Answer: 居民
居民: resident.
Read the news
Report a piece of local news out loud, in the style of a news reader, in six sentences.
- What happened, when and where.
- How it was before.
- What will change, with 将.
- Something else happening at the same time, with 与此同时.
Sentence frames
与此同时，＿＿。
Yǔ cǐ tóngshí, ＿＿.
At the same time, ...
Record your attempt (three and a half minutes at most) and listen back:
Review and finish
Can you do this? If a line feels shaky, go back to that part before you move on.
- I report parallel events with 与此同时.
- I can follow a short news report about transport.
Review works best spaced out: answer these exercises again tomorrow, then after a few days. Your progress is saved in this browser.
Completing records that you finished the lesson. Mastery is separate: it grows as reviews bring the exercises back and you answer them correctly.