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.)

  • jiǔ diǎn9 o'clock
  • 上午 七 shàngwǔ qī diǎn7 o'clock a.m.
  • 下午 四 xiàwǔ sì diǎn2 o'clock p.m.
  • 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 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

  • liǎng diǎn líng jiǔ fēn2:09
  • sān diǎn língfēn3:08
  • diǎn líng sān fēn5:03
  • diǎn língfēn7:01
  • diǎn língfēn8:05

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

  • 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
  • 五 分 八 chā wǔ fēn bā diǎn bànfive minutes til 8:30
  • 两 分 十 chā liǎngfēn shí diǎnbàntwo minutes til 10:30

See also

Sources and further reading

Books