情况

• Pinyin: qíng kuàng
• Hanzi breakdown: 情 = 忄(heart) + 青 (green/young, phonetic); 况 = 冫(ice) + 兄 (elder brother, phonetic), meaning condition or state

Meaning

Situation; circumstance; condition. A general term for the state of affairs or how things stand.

One of the most frequently used nouns in Chinese. Covers a wide range of meanings: the current state of something (目前的情况), conditions (交通情况 = traffic conditions), what happened (了解情况 = find out what happened). Essential in both casual conversation and formal reports.

Examples

1. 请你介绍一下目前的情况。 Please give us an overview of the current situation.
2. 最近公司的经营情况怎么样？ How has the company's business been doing recently?
3. 在这种情况下，我们只能推迟会议。 Under these circumstances, we can only postpone the meeting.

Usage Guide

Context: reports, questions, analysis, everyday

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 你能说说具体情况吗？(Can you tell us about the specific situation?)
• 情况比我想的好多了。(The situation is much better than I expected.)

Don't Say

• 今天的天气情况很热。(Avoid using 情况 redundantly — 天气 already means weather conditions. Just say 今天很热 or 今天天气很热.)

Origin & History

情 means feeling or state; 况 means condition or moreover. Together they describe the emotional and factual state of a matter — the full picture of how things are.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal