Usage note
秒表示很短的时间单位。
miǎo biǎo shì hěn duǎn de shí jiān dān wèi。
A second means a very short unit of time.
Context note
秒常出现在时间、比赛和倒计时里。
miǎo cháng chū xiàn zài shí jiān 、 bǐ sài hé dǎo jì shí lǐ。
Seconds often appear in time, competitions, and countdowns.
5 examples
等我十秒。
děng wǒ shí miǎo。
Wait for me ten seconds.
一秒很短。
yì miǎo hěn duǎn。
One second is very short.
比赛只差一秒。
bǐ sài zhī chà yì miǎo。
The competition was only one second away.
请数到五秒。
qǐng shù dào wǔ miǎo。
Please count to five seconds.
时间过得很快，秒都不见了。
shí jiān guò dé hěn kuài， miǎo dōu bú jiàn le。
Time passes very fast; seconds disappear.
5 mini stories
我只等了几秒钟，门就开了。
wǒ zhī děng le jǐ miǎo zhōng， mén jiù kāi le。
I waited only a few seconds before the door opened.
比赛结束前最后一秒，大家都很紧张。
bǐ sài jié shù qián zuì hòu yì miǎo， dà jiā dōu hěn jǐn zhāng。
In the last second before the match ended, everyone was tense.
老师让我们数十秒，再开始。
lǎo shī ràng wǒ men shù shí miǎo， zài kāi shǐ。
The teacher asked us to count ten seconds, then start.
几秒以后，灯就亮了。
jǐ miǎo yǐ hòu， dēng jiù liàng le。
A few seconds later, the light came on.
我学会了看秒表。
wǒ xué huì le kàn miǎo biǎo。
I learned to look at the stopwatch.
Mini dialogue
数秒游戏
A
我们玩个游戏吧，看谁能闭眼数十秒最准。
Wǒmen wán ge yóuxì ba, kàn shéi néng bì yǎn shǔ shí miǎo zuì zhǔn.
Let's play a game, see who can count ten seconds most accurately with eyes closed.
B
好！一、二、三、四、五、六、七、八、九、十秒！
Hǎo! Yī, èr, sān, sì, wǔ, liù, qī, bā, jiǔ, shí miǎo!
Okay! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten seconds!
等一秒钟
A
快一点，我们要迟到了！
Kuài yìdiǎn, wǒmen yào chídào le!
Hurry up, we are going to be late!
B
再等我一秒，我马上穿好鞋。
Zài děng wǒ yì miǎo, wǒ mǎshàng chuān hǎo xié.
Wait for me one more second, I'll put on my shoes right away.
Related words and contrasts
related
分钟
fēn zhōng
minute
60 秒 make 1 分钟.
related
小时
xiǎo shí
hour
A 秒 is very short; an 小时 is much longer.