<p>There is no differences between 等 and 候. Both means "to wait". You can also put them together as a word 等候, with the same meaning - to wait.</p>

<p>However, 候 sounds like the usage in classical Chinese (archaic Chinese), and therefore rarely use as only one single character in modern Chinese.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-21T16:28:42.103Z
2014-11-21T16:28:42.103Z
Victor
<p>For the purpose of stating "please wait", 等 and 候 both mean the "to wait".</p>

<p>However they each have other meanings in different context. For example, 等 also means "level" (as in 等級, 等地). 候 also means "to serve" (as in 伺候).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-21T22:07:00.423Z
2014-11-21T22:07:00.423Z
gugod
<p>We say“我等你”. It means&quot;I wait for you&quot;.
But we don't say“我候你”</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-15T04:31:21.230Z
2021-01-15T04:31:21.230Z
王悦羽
<p>I've usually seen in my little Mandarin learning experience, that when people express <code>wait</code>, they usually use <code>等</code>. However, I just noticed the following phrase in Sina Weibo:</p>

<pre><code>请稍候...
</code></pre>

<p>I know <code>请</code> means <code>please</code>, and I looked up in my dictionary, that <code>稍</code> is <code>a little</code> and <code>候</code> is <code>wait</code>. So the sentence seems to express <code>please wait a little...</code>, which is fine in the context (I tried reloading the data, for your information).</p>

<p>So what's the difference between <code>等</code> and <code>候</code>?</p>

<mandarin><word>
What's the difference between 候 and 等?
# What's the difference between 候 and 等?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-11-20)

I've usually seen in my little Mandarin learning experience, that when people express `wait`, they usually use `等`. However, I just noticed the following phrase in Sina Weibo:

```
请稍候...

```

I know `请` means `please`, and I looked up in my dictionary, that `稍` is `a little` and `候` is `wait`. So the sentence seems to express `please wait a little...`, which is fine in the context (I tried reloading the data, for your information).

So what's the difference between `等` and `候`?

**Tags:** mandarin, word


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-11-21. Score: 2

There is no differences between 等 and 候. Both means "to wait". You can also put them together as a word 等候, with the same meaning - to wait.

However, 候 sounds like the usage in classical Chinese (archaic Chinese), and therefore rarely use as only one single character in modern Chinese.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2014-11-21. Score: 0

For the purpose of stating "please wait", 等 and 候 both mean the "to wait".

However they each have other meanings in different context. For example, 等 also means "level" (as in 等級, 等地). 候 also means "to serve" (as in 伺候).


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### Answer by username_3 on 2021-01-15. Score: 0

We say“我等你”. It means"I wait for you".
But we don't say“我候你”


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