Beginner Lesson 14.1 – Tell Time

Grammar 1: Tell Time in Chinese · HSK 1

……diǎn……fēn ……点……分 ...o'clock...minute

(1) To tell time in Chinese, we use this structure:

the number + 点 + 分.

• wǔ diǎn shí fēn
  五点十分
  5:10
• bā diǎn sānshíqī fēn
  八点三十七分
  8:37

(2) If the minute is more than one character, the character 分 can often be dropped.

• liù diǎn 'èrshí fēn
  六点二十分
  6:20
• liù diǎn 'èrshí
  六点二十
  6:20

(3) If the minute is only one digit, meaning less than 10. The "zero" cannot be dropped.

• wǔ diǎn shí fēn
  五点十分
  5:10
• liù diǎn líng sān fēn
  六点零三分
  6:03
• liù diǎn sān fēn
  六点三分
  6:03

Grammar 2: Time Words in Chinese - AM or PM · HSK 1

shíjiāncí 时间词 Time Words in Chinese are special and can be considered as in their own category. Even though they are basically nouns that refer to a certain time or a certain amount of time, such as yesterday, morning, Monday, one hour, one month...

We learned two Time Words in Chinese in Lesson 11.1: 早上 and 晚上. In today's lesson, we will learn more of them because Time Words can tell whether it is AM or PM in Chinese. Here are some of the most common Time Words in Chinese. The hours they suggest is vague and not accurate; they only show what hour range each Time Word generally refers to:

And if we want to tell whether it is AM or PM in Chinese, we use this structure:

Time Word + the Hour number + the Minute number

Here are some examples:

• zǎoshang jiǔdiǎn
  早上九点
  9am
• shàngwǔ shídiǎn shífēn
  上午十点十分
  10:10am
• zhōngwǔ shí'èr diǎn
  中午十二点
  12pm
• xiàwǔ sāndiǎn 'érshí
  下午三点二十
  3:20pm
• wǎnshàng bādiǎn
  晚上八点
  8pm

Grammar 3: The Number Two in Chinese (I): 二 vs. 两 · HSK 2

èr 二 vs. liǎng 两

There are two ways to say the number two in Chinese: 二 and 两. Sometimes we can use both, sometimes only 二 is appropriate and sometimes only 两 is appropriate. For mathematical usage, to say the number two in Chinese, 二 is generally used. To tell time in Chinese, for o'clock we have to say 两点 instead of 二点. However, for minute, if it's two minutes pass x o'clock, both 零两分 and 零二分 is okay to say.

• liǎngdiǎn língliǎng fēn
  两点零两分
  2:02
• liǎngdiǎn lín'èr fēn
  两点零二分
  2:02