Now… now… (时而…时而…)

Structure 时而 + state/action A，时而 + state/action B

时而…时而… (shí'ér… shí'ér…) describes the alternation of two (or more) states or actions that recur intermittently: "now… now…", "sometimes… sometimes…". 天气时而晴，时而雨 = "the weather is now clear, now rainy". It is a literary-descriptive device, common when depicting landscapes, moods or shifting rhythms. Compared with colloquial 一会儿…一会儿… (HSK 3), 时而 is more refined and abstract, and can even appear just once (时而传来鸟鸣 = "now and then birdsong drifted over").

Examples

山shān间jiān的de天tiān气qì时shí而ér晴qíng朗lǎng，时shí而ér阴yīn雨yǔ。
The weather in the mountains is now clear, now overcast and rainy.
他tā的de情qíng绪xù时shí而ér高gāo涨zhǎng，时shí而ér低dī落luò。
His mood would now soar, now sink.
演yǎn讲jiǎng者zhě时shí而ér激jī昂áng，时shí而ér平píng静jìng，牢láo牢láo抓zhuā住zhù了le听tīng众zhòng。
The speaker, now impassioned, now calm, held the audience spellbound.

Levels are indicative: they follow the standard Chinese Grammar Wiki (AllSet Learning) progression, not an official HSK 3.0 mapping. We never assign levels by eye.

This point and the other 370, with audio on every example, inside Wanyu.