暂停

• Pinyin: zàn tíng
• Hanzi breakdown: 暂 = temporary; 停 = 亻 + 亭, to stop

Meaning

To pause; to suspend temporarily. A temporary halt to an activity.

Used for temporary interruptions that will resume later. Common in sports (timeout), media (pause button), and business (suspend operations). Also 暂停键 (pause button), 暂停服务 (suspend service), 比赛暂停 (game timeout).

Examples

1. 教练叫了一次暂停来调整战术。 The coach called a timeout to adjust tactics.
2. 系统正在升级，服务暂停一小时。 The system is being upgraded; service is suspended for one hour.
3. 会议暂停十分钟，大家休息一下。 The meeting is paused for ten minutes so everyone can take a break.

Usage Guide

Context: sports, technology, meetings

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 我们暂停一下，先处理这个问题。(Let's pause and deal with this issue first.)
• 比赛因天气原因暂停。(The game is suspended due to weather.)

Don't Say

• 暂停去 (Sounds awkward — say 先不去 or 暂时不去)

Origin & History

Compound of 暂 (temporary) and 停 (to stop). To stop temporarily.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal