Lesson 10: How to Express Time in Chinese
In the previous lesson, you have learned about the number in Chinese. Today, let’s learn how to tell the time in Chinese!
IMPORTANT TIME-RELATED TERM
Here are some important time-related terms you need to be familiar beforehand.
English Chinese Pin Yin
time 时间 shíjiān
O'clock 点 diǎn
minute 分 fēn
second 秒 miǎo
a quarter 刻 kè
a half 半 bàn
less/to 差 chā
sharp 整 zhěng
morning 早上 zǎo shàng
noon 中午 zhōng wǔ
afternoon 下午 xià wǔ
evening 晚上 wǎn shàng
midnight 半夜 bàn yè
early morning 凌晨 líng chén
TELLING THE TIME
The complete time format in Chinese is:
number + 点 + number + 分 + number + 秒
number + diǎn + number + fēn + number + miǎo
number + o’clock + number + minutes + number + seconds
The following are the guidelines for the pronunciation. Notice the pattern – they are easy to remember!
English Chinese Pin Yin
0 o'clock 零点 líng diǎn
1 o'clock 一点 yì diǎn
2 o'clock 两点 liǎng diǎn
3 o'clock 三点 sān diǎn
4 o'clock 四点 sì diǎn
5 o'clock 五点 wǔ diǎn
6 o'clock 六点 liù diǎn
7 o'clock 七点 qī diǎn
8 o'clock 八点 bā diǎn
9 o'clock 九点 jiǔ diǎn
10 o'clock 十点 shí diǎn
11 o'clock 十一点 shí yī diǎn
12 o'clock 十二点 shí'èr diǎn
English Chinese Pinyin
0 minute 零分 líng fēn
1 minute 一分 yī fēn
2 minutes 两分 liǎng fēn
3 minutes 三分 sān fēn
4 minutes 四分 sì fēn
5 minutes 五分 wǔ fēn
6 minutes 六分 liù fēn
7 minutes 七分 qī fēn
8 minutes 八分 bā fēn
9 minutes 九分 jiǔ fēn
10 minutes 十分 shí fēn
11 minutes 十一分 shí yī fēn
15 minutes 十五分 shí wǔ fēn
20 minutes 二十分 èr shí fēn
30 minutes 三十分 sān shí fēn
59 minutes 五十九分 wǔ shí jiǔ
English Chinese Pinyin
0 second 零秒 líng miǎo
1 second 一秒 yī miǎo
2 seconds 两秒 liǎng miǎo
3 seconds 三秒 sān miǎo
4 seconds 四秒 sì miǎo
5 seconds 五秒 wǔ miǎo
6 seconds 六秒 liù miǎo
7 seconds 七秒 qī miǎo
8 seconds 八秒 bā miǎo
9 seconds 九秒 jiǔ miǎo
10 seconds 十秒 shí miǎo
11 seconds 十一秒 shí yī miǎo
15 seconds 十五秒 shí wǔ miǎo
20 seconds 二十秒 èr shí miǎo
30 seconds 三十秒 sān shí miǎo
59 seconds 五十九秒 wǔ shí jiǔ miǎo
Of course, you can omit the part you do not need in telling the time. Like in normal asking-telling time conversation, we will only use the o’clock and minutes. On the other hand, under some circumstances that require the precise time, you do have to include the seconds. Examples:
两点。
Liǎng diǎn.
Two o’clock.
十二点。
Shí’èr diǎn.
Twelve o’clock.
五点二十(分)。
Wǔ diǎn èrshí (fēn).
05:20.
八点四十五(分)。
Bā diǎn sì shí wǔ (fēn).
08:45.
三点七分十秒。
Sān diǎn qī fēn shí miǎo.
03:07:10.
九点三十六分五十九秒。
Jiǔ diǎn sānshíliù fēn wǔshíjiǔ miǎo.
09:36:59.
Have you noticed that we use 两 (liǎng) instead of 二 (èr) to express time?
You can leave out the word for the minute: 分 (fēn) when speaking.
Sometimes, you might hear the word 种 (zhōng) behind the o’clock, minutes, or seconds. It is completely normal though!
QUARTER AND HALF
In fact, Chinese tend to use digital time format (e.g. 08:55 is pronounced as eight fifty-five instead of five to nine). There is a word for quarter: 刻 (kè), but it can be only use for ‘quarter past’. The term ‘quarter to’ as in English is not available here. Don’t worry, we still use the half: 半 (bàn) to indicate 30 minutes! Examples:
七点一刻。
Qī diǎn yī kè.
A quarter past seven (07:15).
一点半。
Yīdiǎn bàn.
Half past one (01:30).
LESS/TO
差 (chà) is similar to English less/to, which is used to indicate ‘several minutes’ to reach the next hour. The opposite of less, ‘past’ is not available in Chinese time dictionary too. Thus:
差五分十点。
Chà wǔ fēn shí diǎn.
Five to ten (09:55).
差一分六点。
Chà yī fēn liù diǎn.
One to six (05:59).
SHARP
整 (zhěng) is used to express ‘the exact time’ in Chinese. Therefore:
四点整。
Sì diǎn zhěng.
Four o’clock sharp (exactly 4:00).
NO A.M. AND P.M. IN CHINESE TIME!
You read it correctly. There is no specific term for indicating a.m. and p.m. in Chinese. In order to distinguish which time of the day, we use time-frame of the day: 早上 (zǎo shang), 中午 (zhōng wǔ), 下午 (xià wǔ), 晚上 (wǎn shàng), 半夜 (bàn yè), 凌晨 (líng chén). Thus:
早上八点。
Zǎo shang bā diǎn.
8 a.m.
中午十二点。
Zhōng wǔ shí’èr diǎn.
12 p.m.
下午两点。
Xià wǔ liǎng diǎn.
2 p.m.
晚上六点。
Wǎn shàng liù diǎn.
6 p.m.
半夜十二点。
Bàn yè shí’èr diǎn.
12 a.m.
凌晨一点。
Líng chén yīdiǎn.
1 a.m.
ASKING THE TIME
There are countless ways to ask time in Chinese. The most common one is:
现在几点？
Xiànzài jīdiǎn?
What time is it now?
When you are talking to someone you are close to, you can use:
几点了？
Jīdiǎn le?
What time is it?
QUIZ
Next time when someone asks you the time in Chinese, try to answer the time in Chinese as well! Let’s practice now!
昨天你几点回家？
Zuó tiān nǐ jǐ diǎn huí jiā?
What time did you go home yesterday?
明天我们几点出发？
Míng tiān wǒmen jǐ diǎn chū fā?
What time will we leave tomorrow?
你每天几点睡觉？
Nǐ měi tiān jǐ diǎn shuì jiào?
What time do you go to sleep every day?
