Expressing Time
In Mandarin, time is expressed using the 12-hour clock system. Here’s how you can tell time in Chinese:
Basic Time Vocabulary:
- 小时 (xiǎo shí) → hour
- 分钟 (fēn zhōng) → minute
- 秒钟 (miǎo zhōng) → second
Key Points:
- The word 点 (diǎn) refers to the hour, and 分 (fēn) refers to minutes.
- For minutes past the hour, you can use number for the hour + 点 and number for the minutes + 分.
- Example: 三点二十七分 (sān diǎn èr shí qī fēn) → 3:27
- Exception: For minutes past the hour that are lower than 10, you can use number for the hour + 点 and 零 (líng) + number for the minutes.
- Example: 四点零六 (sì diǎn líng liù) → 4:06
- 几点了? (jǐ diǎn le?) → What time is it?
- For times like 5:30, use 半 (bàn) to indicate “half past” or “30 minutes past.”
- Example: 五点半 (wǔ diǎn bàn) → 5:30
- For times like 15 minutes past the hour, you can use 一刻 (yī kè).
- Example: 九点一刻 (jiǔ diǎn yī kè) → 9:15 (a quarter past 9)
- But, you can also say 九点十五 (jiǔ diǎn shí wǔ)
- Example: 九点一刻 (jiǔ diǎn yī kè) → 9:15 (a quarter past 9)
Example of conversation:
- 几点了？(jǐ diǎn le) → What time is it?
- 现在是三点。 (xiàn zài shì sān diǎn) → It is 3:00 now.
Expressing Dates
In Chinese, dates are generally expressed in the following order: Year + Month + Day. Here’s the pattern:
- 年 (nián) → Year
- 月 (yuè) → Month
- 日 (rì) → Day (also 号 (hào) is used in casual speech)
For example:
- 今天是2025年4月5日 (jīn tiān shì 2025 nián 4 yuè 5 rì) → Today is April 5th, 2025.
- 我的生日是10月10号 (wǒ de shēng rì shì 10 yuè 10 hào) → My birthday is October 10th.
Asking About Time and Dates
To ask about the time:
- 现在几点了？ (xiàn zài jǐ diǎn le?) → What time is it now?
To ask about the date:
- 今天几号？ (jīn tiān jǐ hào?) → What’s the date today? (Casual)
- 今天是几月几号？ (jīn tiān shì jǐ yuè jǐ hào?) → What’s today’s date? (More formal)
For days of the week, we use the following words:
- 星期一 (xīng qī yī) → Monday
- 星期二 (xīng qī èr) → Tuesday
- 星期三 (xīng qī sān) → Wednesday
- 星期四 (xīng qī sì) → Thursday
- 星期五 (xīng qī wǔ) → Friday
- 星期六 (xīng qī liù) → Saturday
- 星期天 (xīng qī tiān) → Sunday
To say “What day is it today?”:
- 今天星期几？ (jīn tiān xīng qī jǐ?) → What day is it today?
Expressing Parts of the Day
早上 (zǎo shàng) → “Early Morning”
This term refers to the early part of the morning, typically from sunrise until around 9:00 AM. In Mandarin, 早上 is often used when talking about waking up or starting your day.
Example:
- 我早上七点起床。 (wǒ zǎo shàng qī diǎn qǐ chuáng) → “I get up at 7:00 in the morning.”
- 起床 (qǐ chuáng) → “to get up” or “to wake up” (from bed).
It’s important to note that 起床 refers specifically to getting out of bed, not just waking up, which is 醒 (xǐng).
上午 (shàng wǔ) → “Morning”
This term generally refers to the time from about 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM, and it includes the period referred to as 早上 (“early morning”).
Example:
- 我上午九点开会。(wǒ shàng wǔ jiǔ diǎn kāi huì) → “I have a meeting at 9:00 in the morning.”
中午 (zhōng wǔ) → “Noon”
This is the time around midday, roughly at the transition between morning and afternoon.
In Chinese, it does not have a strict starting or ending time and is usually determined by people’s daily habits and personal sense of time. Some people thing 中午 refers only to the short period aroung 12:00 PM, others consider the time from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM to be 中午.
In Chinese culture, 中午 is the time for lunch, often a big meal, and a nap.
Example:
- 我中午十二点吃饭。 (wǒ zhōng wǔ shí èr diǎn chī fàn) → “I have lunch at 12:00 noon.”
- 吃饭 (chī fàn) → “to eat (food).”
The term 饭 (fàn) is generally used for “rice” in other contexts, but it commonly refers to “food” or “a meal” when paired with 吃 (chī).
下午 (xià wǔ) → “Afternoon”
The afternoon usually refers to the time between 1:00 PM and about 6:00 PM. People often work, study, or run errands during this time.
Example:
- 下午三点我有课。 (xià wǔ sān diǎn wǒ yǒu kè) → “I have class at 3:00 in the afternoon.”
- 课 (kè) → “class” or “lesson.”
晚上 (wǎn shàng) → “Evening”
The evening refers to the time from about 6:00 PM until 12:00 AM.
Example:
- 我晚上七点吃晚餐。 (wǒ wǎn shàng qī diǎn chī wǎn cān) → “I have dinner at 7:00 in the evening.”
- 晚餐 (wǎn cān) → “dinner.”
晚 (wǎn) means “late” or “evening,” and 餐 (cān) means “meal.” Together, 晚餐 refers to the evening meal, which is the equivalent of dinner.
凌晨 (líng chén)
凌晨 usually refers to the time from 1:00 AM to sunrise.
Example:
- 我工作到凌晨一点。(wǒ gōng zuò dào líng chén yī diǎn) → “I worked until 1:00 am.”
Going somewhere
- What time are you having lunch today?
(你今天几点吃午饭？)
This sentence asks about the time when someone is going to have lunch. The pattern for this type of question is [subject] + [time expression] + [verb] + [object].- Example: “I have lunch at 12:00” would be: 我十二点吃午饭 (wǒ shí èr diǎn chī wǔ fàn).
- I get up at 6 o’clock every day.
(我每天六点起床。)
To say “I get up at 6 o’clock every day,” we use the time expression 六点 (liù diǎn) for “6:00,” followed by the verb 起床 (qǐ chuáng), which means “to get up (from the bed).”
The structure is: [subject] + [time expression] + [verb].- Example: “I get up at 7:00 every day” would be: 我每天七点起床 (wǒ měi tiān qī diǎn qǐ chuáng).
Vocabulary
| Chinese | Pinyin | English Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 今天 | jīn tiān | today |
| 是 | shì | is, to be |
| 点 | diǎn | o’clock, hour |
| 几 | jǐ | how many (in questions) |
| 现在 | xiàn zài | now |
| 半 | bàn | half |
| 十五 | shí wǔ | fifteen |
| 分 | fēn | minute |
| 号 | hào | day (of the month) |
| 月 | yuè | month |
| 年 | nián | year |
| 星期 | xīng qī | week |
| 天 | tiān | day, sky (used for Sunday) |
| 早上 | zǎo shàng | early morning |
| 上午 | shàng wǔ | morning |
| 中午 | zhōng wǔ | noon |
| 下午 | xià wǔ | afternoon |
| 晚上 | wǎn shàng | evening |
| 凌晨 | líng chén | wee hours |
| 起床 | qǐ chuáng | to get up |
| 吃饭 | chī fàn | to have a meal |
| 课 | kè | class, lesson |
| 晚餐 | wǎn cān | dinner |
| 睡觉 | shuì jiào | to sleep, go to bed |
| 去 | qù | to go |