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." when necessary.

Structure

x 点

Examples

If you want to include more specific information, start with the day or date, followed by the general time of day, with the exact clock time last. (This is the big-to-small pattern.)

• 九 点jiǔ diǎn9 o'clock
• 上午 七 点shàngwǔ qī diǎn7 o'clock a.m.
• 下午 四 点xiàwǔ sì diǎn2 o'clock p.m.
• 中午 十二 点zhōngwǔ shí'èr diǎn 12 o'clock noon
• 明天 晚上 七 点míngtiān wǎnshang qī diǎn7 o'clock p.m. tomorrow
• 9 月 9 号 早上 六 点jiǔ yuè jiǔ hào zǎoshang liù diǎnSeptember 9th, 6 o'clock a.m.
• 星期三 上午 九 点xīngqīsān shàngwǔ jiǔ diǎnWednesday 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wǔ diǎn bàn5:30
• 下午 两 点 半xiàwǔ liǎng diǎn bàn2:30 p.m.
• 星期 天 上午 十 点 半xīngqītiān shàngwǔ shí diǎn bàn Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
• 昨天 晚上 七 点 半zuótiān qī diǎn bàn7:30 yesterday
• 今天 下午 四 点 半jīntiān xiàwǔ sì diǎn bàn4:30 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

• 九 点 一 刻jiǔ diǎn yī kè 9:15
• 七 点 一 刻qī diǎn yī kè 7:15
• 十 二 点 一 刻shí'èr diǎn yī kè 12:15
• 一 点 三 刻yī diǎn sān kè 1:45
• 六 点 三 刻liù diǎn sān kè 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yī diǎn sìshí fēn1:40
• 两 点 十 分 liǎng diǎn shí fēn2:10
• 三 点 二 十 分 sān diǎn èrshí fēn3:20
• 七 点 十 五 分 qī diǎn shíwǔ fēn7:15
• 九 点 五 十分 jiǔ diǎn wǔshí fēn9:50

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

• 两 点 零 九分 liǎng diǎn líng jiǔ fēn2:09
• 三 点 零 八 分 sān diǎn líng bā fēn3:08
• 五 点 零 三 分 wǔ diǎn líng sān fēn5:03
• 七 点 零 一 分qī diǎn líng yī fēn7:01
• 八 点 零 五 分 bā diǎn líng wǔ fēn8:05

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chā shífēn liǎng diǎnten minutes til 2 o'clock
• 差 五 分 三 点chā wǔ fēn sān diǎnthree minutes til 3 o'clock
• 差 一 分 十二 点chā yī fēn shí'èr diǎnone minute til 12 o'clock
• 差 五 分 八 点 半chā wǔ fēn bā diǎn bànfive minutes til 8:30
• 差 两 分 十 点半chā liǎngfēn shí diǎnbàntwo 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