Structure of times (basic)

Time in Chinese, just like in English, is expressed by stating the hour first then the minute.

On the hour

The time of day in Chinese is formed with a number 1 to 12 (一 (yī) to 十二 (shíèr)) followed by 点 (diăn). This 点 (diăn) is equivalent to o'clock in English. In China, people generally use a twelve hour clock, preceded by 上午 (shàngwŭ) for "a.m." or 下午 (xiàwŭ) for "p.m." if necessary.

Structure

x 点

Examples

• 一 点yī diǎn 1 o'clock
• 两 点liǎng diǎn 2 o'clock
• 三 点sān diǎn 3 o'clock
• 十 点shí diǎn 10 o'clock
• 中午 十二 点zhōngwǔ shí'èr diǎn 12 o'clock noon
• 上午 八 点shàngwǔ bā diǎn 8 o'clock a.m.
• 明天 晚上 七 点míngtiān wǎnshàng qī diǎn 7 o'clock p.m. tomorrow
• 9 月 9 号 早上 六 点jiǔ yuè jiǔ hào zǎoshang liù diǎn September 9th, 6 o'clock a.m.
• 每 天 下午 一 点měitiān xiàwǔ yī diǎn Every day at 1 o'clock p.m.
• 星期三 上午 九 点yīngqísān shàngwǔ jiǔ diǎn Wednesday at 9 o'clock a.m.

Note that two o'clock is 两点 (liǎng diǎn), not 二点 (èr diǎn). (For more information on when to use 两 (liǎng) vs. 二 (èr), see "Er" and "liang".

Half hours and quarter hours

Half and quarter hours are added after 点 (diăn). A half hour is indicated with 半 (bàn), and a quarter with 刻 (kè).

Half hours

Structure

x 点 半

Examples

• 五 点 半wǔ diǎn bàn 5:30
• 下午 两 点 半xiàwǔ liǎng diǎn bàn 2:30 p.m.
• 9 月 9 号 早上 六 点 半jiǔ yuè jiǔ hào zǎoshang liù diǎn bàn September 9th, 6:30 a.m.
• 每 天 下午 一 点 半měitiān xiàwǔ yī diǎn bàn Every day at 1:30 p.m.
• 星期 三 上午 九 点 半xīngqísān shàngwǔ jiǔ diǎn bàn Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.
• 上午 十 点 半shàngwǔ shí diǎn bàn 10:30 a.m.
• 明天 三 点 半míngtiān sān diǎn bàn 3:30 tomorrow
• 昨天 七 点 半zuótiān qī diǎn bàn 7:30 yesterday
• 星期 五 晚上 十 点 半xīngqíwǔ wǎnshàng shí diǎn bàn Friday evening at 10:30 p.m.
• 今天 下午 四 点 半jīntiān xiàwǔ sì diǎn bàn 4:30 p.m. this afternoon.

Quarter hours

In Chinese, quarter hours are only expressed on the 1st quarter x:15, and the third quarter x:45. We use the word 刻 (Kè) to express quarter.

Structure

x 点 y 刻

Examples

• 七 点 一 刻qī diǎn yī kè 7:15
• 九 点 一 刻jiǔ diǎn yī kè 9:15
• 十 一 点 一 刻shíyī diǎn yī kè 11:15
• 十 二 点 一 刻shí'èr diǎn yī kè 12:15
• 五 点 一 刻wǔ diǎn yī kè 5:15
• 两 点 三 刻liǎng diǎn sān kè 2:45
• 一 点 三 刻yī diǎn sān kè 1:45
• 四 点 三 刻sì diǎn sān kè 4:45
• 十 点 三 刻shí diǎn sān kè 10:45
• 六 点 三 刻liù diǎn sān kè 6:45

Minutes

Minutes are marked with 分 (fēn) (short for 分钟 (fēn zhōng)). The way to include them in the time depends on whether they're minutes past or to the hour.

Past the hour

Minutes past the hour are expressed after 点 (diǎn) in the same way as half and quarter hours.

When the minute is greater than 10

Structure

x 点 y 分

Examples

• 一 点 四 十 分yī diǎn sìshí fēn 1:40
• 两 点 十 分 liǎng diǎn shí fēn 2:10
• 八 点 二 十 五 分bā diǎn èrshíwǔ fēn 8:25
• 五 点 三 十 分 wǔ diǎn sānshí fēn 5:30
• 三 点 二 十 分 sān diǎn èrshí fēn 3:20
• 七 点 十 五 分 qī diǎn shíwǔ fēn 7:15
• 九 点 五 分 jiǔ diǎn wǔ fēn 9:05
• 两 点 四 十 五 分liǎng diǎn sìshíwǔ fēn 2:45
• 一 点 十 五 分 yī diǎn shíwǔ fēn 1:15
• 两 点 五 十 分liǎng diǎn wǔshí fēn 2:50

When the minute is less than 10

Structure

In Chinese, when the minute is under 10, the word 零 (líng) is often used after 点 (diǎn). For example, 2:07 would be said as “两点零七分” (liǎng diǎn líng qī fēn). However, note that when speaking, it is very common for most Chinese people take out the “分 (fēn)” at the end of the time.

x 点 零 y 分

Examples

• 一 点 零 四 分 Yī diǎn líng sì fēn 1:04
• 两 点 零 九分 Liǎng diǎn líng jiǔ fēn 2:09
• 八 点 零 五 分 Bā diǎn líng wǔ fēn 8:05
• 五 点 零 三 分 Wǔ diǎn líng sān fēn 5:03
• 三 点 零 二 分 Sān diǎn líng èr fēn 3:02
• 七 点 零 三 分Qī diǎn líng sān fēn 7:03
• 一 点 零 四 Yī diǎn líng sì1:04
• 两 点 零 九 Liǎng diǎn líng jiǔ2:09
• 八 点 零 五 Bā diǎn líng wǔ8:05
• 五 点 零 三 Wǔ diǎn líng sān5:03
• 三 点 零 二 Sān diǎn líng èr3:02
• 七 点 零 三Qī diǎn líng sān7:03

To the hour

When expressing how many minutes it will be till the next full hour, you put 差 (chā) in front of the time expression.

Structure

Minutes to the hour use this structure:

差 + minutes + 分 + hour + 点

Examples

• 差 十 分 两 点chà shífēn liǎng diǎn ten minutes til 2 o'clock
• 差 五 分 三 点chà wǔ fēn sān diǎn three minutes til 3 o'clock
• 差 二 十 分 十二 点chà èrshí fēn shí'èr diǎn twenty minutes til 12 o'clock
• 差 两 分 五 点chà liǎng fēn wǔ diǎn two minutes til 5 o'clock
• 差 八 分 八 点chà bā fēn bā diǎn eight minutes til 8 o'clock
• 差 二 十 分 十二 点chà èrshí fēn shí'èr diǎn twenty minutes til 12 o'clock
• 差 十 五 分 十 点chà shíwǔ fēn shí diǎn fifteen minutes til 10 o'clock
• 差 一刻 五 点chà yīkè wǔ diǎn fifteen minutes til 5 o'clock
• 差 五 分 八 点 半chà wǔ fēn bā diǎn bànfive minutes til 8:30
• 差 十 分 十 点半chà shífēn shí diǎn bànten minutes til 10:30

See also

• Structure of numbers
• Structure of dates
• Structure of days of the week

Sources and further reading

Books

• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 74-5)　→buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1) (pp. 160) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1)(2nd ed) (pp. 185) →buy