Structure of times (basic)
-
Level
-
Similar to
-
Used for
-
Keywords
.jpg)
Time in Chinese, just like in English, is expressed by stating the hour first then the minute.
Contents
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
- 两 点2 o'clock
- 中午 十二 点 12 o'clock noon
- 明天 晚上 七 点7 o'clock p.m. tomorrow
- 9 月 9 号 早上 六 点September 9th, 6 o'clock a.m.
- 星期三 上午 九 点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
Half hours are added after 点 (diăn) and are indicated with 半 (bàn).
Structure
x 点 半
Examples
- 五 点 半5:30
- 下午 两 点 半2:30 p.m.
- 星期 天 上午 十 点 半 Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
- 昨天 晚上 七 点 半7:30 yesterday
- 今天 下午 四 点 半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. Like half hours, they also come after the word 点 (diăn). We use the word 刻 (kè) to express a quarter hour.
Structure
x 点 y 刻
Examples
- 七 点 一 刻 7:15
- 九 点 一 刻 9:15
- 十 一 点 一 刻 11:15
- 十 二 点 一 刻 12:15
- 五 点 一 刻 5:15
- 两 点 三 刻 2:45
- 一 点 三 刻 1:45
- 四 点 三 刻 4:45
- 十 点 三 刻 10:45
- 六 点 三 刻 6:45
Minutes past the hour
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.
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1:40
- 两 点 十 分 2:10
- 八 点 二 十 五 分8:25
- 五 点 三 十 分 5:30
- 三 点 二 十 分 3:20
- 七 点 十 五 分 7:15
- 九 点 五 分 9:05
- 两 点 四 十 五 分 2:45
- 一 点 十 五 分 1:15
- 两 点 五 十 分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 1:04
- 两 点 零 九分 2:09
- 八 点 零 五 分 8:05
- 五 点 零 三 分 5:03
- 三 点 零 二 分 3:02
- 七 点 零 三 分7:03
- 一 点 零 四 1:04
- 两 点 零 九 2:09
- 八 点 零 五 8:05
- 五 点 零 三 5:03
- 三 点 零 二 3:02
- 七 点 零 三7:03
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ten minutes til 2 o'clock
- 差 五 分 三 点three minutes til 3 o'clock
- 差 一 分 十二 点one minute til 12 o'clock
- 差 两 分 五 点two minutes til 5 o'clock
- 差 八 分 八 点eight minutes til 8 o'clock
- 差 二 十 分 十二 点twenty minutes til 12 o'clock
- 差 十 五 分 十 点fifteen minutes til 10 o'clock
- 差 一刻 五 点fifteen minutes til 5 o'clock
- 差 五 分 八 点 半five minutes til 8:30
- 差 十 分 十 点半ten minutes til 10:30
