Day 8: Time & Clock — Learn Chinese in 30 Days
Learn how to tell time in Chinese — asking what time it is, saying o'clock, half past, and talking about your daily schedule.
Today's Vocabulary
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 几点 | What time / how many o'clock | |
| 点 | O'clock (hour marker) | |
| 分 | Minutes | |
| 半 | Half (30 minutes) | |
| 早上 | Morning | |
| 下午 | Afternoon | |
| 晚上 | Evening / Night | |
| 现在 | Now | |
| 以前 | Before / Ago | |
| 以后 | After / Later |
What You’ll Learn Today
Telling time in Chinese is beautifully logical once you see the pattern. Today we’ll cover everything you need to talk about schedules, make appointments, and understand when things happen.
Telling Time: The Formula
[Hour] + 点 + [Minutes] + 分
- 3:00 → 三点 (sān diǎn) — “three o’clock”
- 3:30 → 三点半 (sān diǎn bàn) — “three thirty” (半 = half)
- 3:15 → 三点十五分 (sān diǎn shí wǔ fēn) — “three fifteen”
- 3:45 → 三点四十五分 (sān diǎn sì shí wǔ fēn) — “three forty-five”
Quarter past/to isn’t commonly used in Chinese — just say the full minutes.
AM vs PM: Use Time-of-Day Words
Chinese traditionally puts the time-of-day word before the time:
- 早上八点 (zǎo shang bā diǎn) — 8:00 in the morning
- 下午两点 (xià wǔ liǎng diǎn) — 2:00 in the afternoon
Note: When the hour is 2, say 两 (liǎng), not 二 (èr). This is a common mistake beginners make.
Time-of-Day Vocabulary
| Chinese | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 早上 | zǎo shang | Morning (roughly 6am–11am) |
| 上午 | shàng wǔ | Forenoon / Late morning |
| 中午 | zhōng wǔ | Noon / Midday |
| 下午 | xià wǔ | Afternoon (12pm–6pm) |
| 晚上 | wǎn shang | Evening / Night |
| 凌晨 | líng chén | Late night / early morning (midnight–5am) |
Sentence Patterns
Pattern 1: Asking what time it is
现在几点？— Xiàn zài jǐ diǎn? — What time is it now?
Pattern 2: Stating a time
现在下午三点半。— Xiàn zài xià wǔ sān diǎn bàn. — It’s now 3:30pm.
Pattern 3: Making an appointment
我们明天早上九点见面好吗？— Wǒ men míng tiān zǎo shang jiǔ diǎn jiàn miàn hǎo ma? — Shall we meet tomorrow morning at 9?
Cultural Note
China operates on a single time zone (Beijing Time, UTC+8) — the same across an enormous country stretching from the Himalayas to the Pacific. This means that in western provinces like Xinjiang, sunset in summer doesn’t happen until 10pm or later by the clock.
Punctuality culture varies. In business contexts, being on time is important and respected. In casual social settings, arriving 10–15 minutes late is generally accepted. Showing up exactly on time for a Chinese dinner party can sometimes catch the host still cooking.
Practice Exercise
What time is it? Write these in Chinese:
- 7:00am
- 12:30pm
- 9:15pm
- 2:00pm (remember: use 两, not 二!)
Answers: 1) 早上七点 2) 中午十二点半 3) 晚上九点十五分 4) 下午两点