▎趁, chèn, (Prep), seize the moment

 

Function The preposition 趁 refers to seizing an opportune moment for the implementation of an action.

1 林老師趁這個週末沒事到東部的海邊走走。

Lín lǎoshī chèn zhè ge zhōumò méi shì dào dōngbù de hǎibiān zǒuzǒu.

Ms. Lin is taking advantage of the fact that she has nothing to do this weekend to take a walk on a beach on the east coast.

2 他趁老師還沒來上課，出去買了一杯咖啡。

Tā chèn lǎoshī hái méi lái shàngkè, chūqù mǎile yì bēi kāfēi.

He took advantage of the fact that the teacher hadn’t arrived for class yet to go out and buy a cup of coffee.

3 趁天氣好，小明和美美去河邊公園騎腳踏車。

Chèn tiānqì hǎo, Xiǎomíng hàn Měiměi qù hébiān gōngyuán qí jiǎotàchē.

Taking advantage of the nice weather, Xiaoming and Meimei went to Riverside Park to ride bikes.

 

Structures 趁 can introduce a noun phrase, a verb phrase, or a clause. The 趁 phrase can appear either sentence initially or before the main VP.

Questions：

1 趁這個週末，我們要不要搭捷運去看電腦展？

Chèn zhè ge zhōumò, wǒmen yào bú yào dā jiéyùn qù kàn diànnǎo zhǎn?

Should we take the opportunity this weekend to hop on the MRT and go see the computer exhibition?

2 趁年輕的時候你不打打工，怎麼會了解工作的情形呢？

Chèn niánqīng de shíhòu nǐ bù dǎdǎ gōng, zěnme huì liǎojiě gōngzuò de qíngxíng ne?

If you don’t seize the opportunity to work part-time while you are young, how will you understand what work is really all about?

3 你是不是應該趁老師還沒來，趕快把作業寫完？

Nǐ shìbúshì yīnggāi chèn lǎoshī hái méi lái, gǎnkuài bǎ zuòyè xiěwán?

Shouldn’t you take advantage of the fact that the teacher hasn’t come back yet to hurry up and finish your homework?

 

Usage 趁 and 趁著chènzhe mean practically the same thing. Either 趁 or 趁著 can be used in the following example, 我們趁（著）天氣好，去山上走一走Wǒmen chèn (zhe) tiānqì hǎo, qù shān shàng zǒu yì zǒu. ‘We took a walk in the mountain while the weather was nice’. 趁 alone is more colloquial and has a higher frequency of occurrence.