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

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

Half hours are added after 点 (diăn) and are indicated with 半 (bàn).

Structure

x 点 半

Examples

  • 点 半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xīngqīsān 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xīngqīwǔ 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. Like half hours, they also come after the word 点 (dien). We use the word 刻 (kè) to express a quarter hour.

Structure

x 点 y 刻

Examples

  • diǎn 7:15
  • jiǔ diǎn 9:15
  • 十 一 shíyī diǎn 11:15
  • 十 二 shí'èr diǎn 12:15
  • diǎn 5:15
  • liǎng diǎn sān 2:45
  • diǎn sān 1:45
  • diǎn sān 4:45
  • shí diǎn sān 10:45
  • liù diǎn sān 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
  • 四 十 diǎn sìshí fēn 1:40
  • liǎng diǎn shí fēn 2:10
  • 二 十 五 diǎn èrshíwǔ fēn 8:25
  • 三 十 diǎn sānshí fēn 5:30
  • 二 十 sān diǎn èrshí fēn 3:20
  • 十 五 diǎn shíwǔ fēn 7:15
  • jiǔ diǎn fēn 9:05
  • 四 十 五 liǎng diǎn sìshíwǔ fēn 2:45
  • 十 五 diǎn shíwǔ fēn 1:15
  • 五 十 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
  • diǎn líng fēn 1:04
  • liǎng diǎn líng jiǔ fēn 2:09
  • diǎn líng fēn 8:05
  • diǎn líng sān fēn 5:03
  • sān diǎn líng èr fēn 3:02
  • diǎn líng sān fēn 7:03
  • diǎn líng 1:04
  • liǎng diǎn líng jiǔ2:09
  • diǎn líng 8:05
  • 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 diǎn ten minutes til 2 o'clock
  • 五 分 三 chā wǔ fēn sān diǎn three minutes til 3 o'clock
  • 一 分 十二 chā yī fēn shí'èr diǎn one minute til 12 o'clock
  • 两 分 五 chā liǎng fēn wǔ diǎn two minutes til 5 o'clock
  • 八 分 八 chā bā fēn bā diǎn eight minutes til 8 o'clock
  • 二 十 分 十二 chā èrshí fēn shí'èr diǎn twenty minutes til 12 o'clock
  • 十 五 分 十 chā shíwǔ fēn shí diǎn fifteen minutes til 10 o'clock
  • 一刻 五 chā yīkè wǔ diǎn fifteen minutes til 5 o'clock
  • 五 分 八 chā wǔ fēn bā diǎn bànfive minutes til 8:30
  • 十 分 十 chā shífēn shí diǎn bànten minutes til 10:30

See also

Sources and further reading

Books