Difference between revisions of "Structure of times (basic)"

Line 47: Line 47:
 
* 五 <em>点 半</em><span class="pinyin">wǔ <em>diǎn bàn</em></span><span class="trans">5:30</span>
 
* 五 <em>点 半</em><span class="pinyin">wǔ <em>diǎn bàn</em></span><span class="trans">5:30</span>
 
* 下午 两 <em>点 半</em><span class="pinyin">xiàwǔ liǎng <em>diǎn bàn</em></span><span class="trans">2:30 p.m.</span>
 
* 下午 两 <em>点 半</em><span class="pinyin">xiàwǔ liǎng <em>diǎn bàn</em></span><span class="trans">2:30 p.m.</span>
* 星期 天 上午 十 <em>点 半</em><span class="pinyin">xīngqīsān shàngwǔ shí <em>diǎn bàn</em></span><span class="trans"> Sunday at 10:30 a.m.</span>
+
* 星期 天 上午 十 <em>点 半</em><span class="pinyin">xīngqītiān shàngwǔ shí <em>diǎn bàn</em></span><span class="trans"> Sunday at 10:30 a.m.</span>
 
* 昨天 晚上 七 <em>点 半</em><span class="pinyin">zuótiān qī <em>diǎn bàn</em></span><span class="trans">7:30 yesterday</span>
 
* 昨天 晚上 七 <em>点 半</em><span class="pinyin">zuótiān qī <em>diǎn bàn</em></span><span class="trans">7:30 yesterday</span>
 
* 今天 下午 四 <em>点 半</em><span class="pinyin">jīntiān xiàwǔ sì <em>diǎn bàn</em></span><span class="trans">4:30 p.m. this afternoon.</span>
 
* 今天 下午 四 <em>点 半</em><span class="pinyin">jīntiān xiàwǔ sì <em>diǎn bàn</em></span><span class="trans">4:30 p.m. this afternoon.</span>

Revision as of 08:48, 16 September 2015

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


  • liǎng diǎn2 o'clock
  • 中午 十二 zhōngwǔ shí'èr diǎn 12 o'clock noon
  • 明天 晚上 七 míngtiān wǎnshang qī diǎn7 o'clock p.m. tomorrow
  • 9 月 9 号 早上 六 jiǔ yuè jiǔ hào zǎoshang liù diǎnSeptember 9th, 6 o'clock a.m.
  • 星期三 上午 九 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

  • 点 半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

  • jiǔ diǎn 9:15
  • diǎn 7:15
  • 十 二 shí'èr diǎn 12:15
  • diǎn sān 1:45
  • liù diǎn sān 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

  • 四 十 diǎn sìshí fēn1:40
  • liǎng diǎn shí fēn2:10
  • 二 十 sān diǎn èrshí fēn3:20
  • 十 五 diǎn shíwǔ fēn7:15
  • 五 十 jiǔ diǎn wǔshífēn9:50

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

  • diǎn língfēn1:04
  • liǎng diǎn líng jiǔ fēn2:09
  • diǎn língfēn8:05
  • diǎn líng sān fēn5:03
  • sān diǎn líng èr fēn3:02
  • diǎn líng sān fēn7:03
  • diǎn líng1:04
  • liǎng diǎn líng jiǔ2:09
  • diǎn líng8:05
  • diǎn líng sān5:03
  • sān diǎn líng èr3:02
  • 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

  • 十 分 两 chā shífēn liǎng diǎnten minutes til 2 o'clock
  • 五 分 三 chā wǔ fēn sān diǎnthree minutes til 3 o'clock
  • 一 分 十二 chā yī fēn shí'èr diǎnone minute til 12 o'clock
  • 两 分 五 chā liǎng fēn wǔ diǎntwo minutes til 5 o'clock
  • 八 分 八 chā bā fēn bā diǎneight minutes til 8 o'clock
  • 二 十 分 十二 chā èrshí fēn shí'èr diǎntwenty minutes til 12 o'clock
  • 十 五 分 十 chā shíwǔ fēn shí diǎnfifteen minutes til 10 o'clock
  • 一刻 五 chā yīkè wǔ diǎnfifteen minutes til 5 o'clock
  • 五 分 八 chā wǔ fēn bā diǎn bànfive minutes til 8:30
  • 十 分 十 chā shífēn shí diǎnbànten minutes til 10:30

See also

Sources and further reading

Books