{"id":8238,"date":"2012-11-28T23:58:07","date_gmt":"2012-11-29T03:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=8238"},"modified":"2018-02-23T14:04:27","modified_gmt":"2018-02-23T18:04:27","slug":"telling-time-in-chinese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/telling-time-in-chinese\/","title":{"rendered":"Telling Time in Chinese"},"content":{"rendered":"

Something you eventually have to learn in any language is how to tell time. Whether you’re talking about your schedule, making plans, or simply in a hurry and without a watch, being able to ask for and tell the time is crucial in your everyday life. To help you out in your quest to master Chinese, I’m going to introduce some common vocabulary and grammatical structures related to telling the time in Mandarin Chinese:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Learn how to tell the time.<\/p><\/div>\n

Vocabulary<\/h1>\n
    \n
  • \n

    second (\u79d2 – mi\u01ceo)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
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    minute (\u5206\u949f – f\u0113n zh\u014dng)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n

    hour (\u5c0f\u65f6 – xi\u01ceo sh\u00ed)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n

    day (\u5929 – ti\u0101n\/\u65e5 – r\u00ec)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n

    week (\u5468 – zh\u014du\/\u661f\u671f – x\u012bng q\u012b)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n

    month (\u6708 – yu\u00e8)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n

    year (\u5e74 – ni\u00e1n)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    <\/div>\n

    Asking for and Telling the Time<\/h1>\n

    In English, there are plenty of ways to ask for the time – What time is it?, What’s the time?, Do you have the time?, etc. In Chinese, the most common way to ask for the time is to say:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • \n

      What’s the time now?<\/h3>\n

      \u73b0\u5728\u51e0\u70b9?<\/h3>\n

      xi\u00e0n z\u00e0i j\u01d0 di\u01cen<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      When you tell the time in English, you use words like o’clock<\/em>, a quarter<\/em>, half past<\/em>, and so on. Telling time in Chinese is no different. Here are the words you’ll need to be able to tell time:<\/p>\n

        \n
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        o’clock (\u70b9 – di\u01cen)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
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        a quarter (\u523b – k\u00e8)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
      • \n

        half (\u534a – b\u00e0n)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
      • \n

        be short of\/to (\u5dee – ch\u00e0)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        Ok, so if someone’s asked you for the time, how can you use these words to give an answer? Let’s look at a few examples:<\/div>\n
        \n
          \n
        • \n

          two o’clock (\u4e24\u70b9 – li\u01ceng di\u01cen)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
        • \n

          four twenty (\u56db\u70b9\u4e8c\u5341(\u5206) – s\u00ec di\u01cen \u00e8r sh\u00ed (f\u0113n))<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
        • \n

          a quarter past six (\u516d\u70b9\u4e00\u523b – li\u00f9 di\u01cen y\u012b k\u00e8)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
        • \n

          half past nine (\u4e5d\u70b9\u534a – ji\u01d4 di\u01cen b\u00e0n)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
        • \n

          five to eleven (\u5dee\u4e94\u5206\u5341\u4e00\u70b9 – ch\u00e0 w\u01d4 f\u0113n sh\u00ed y\u012b di\u01cen)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Note that when telling the time, the character for minute (\u5206) is totally optional. People usually just drop that one when speaking. Also, note that the number two isn’t pronounced the same way it is when counting,\u00a0\u00c8r<\/em>, but rather with the word\u00a0li\u01ceng<\/em>.<\/p>\n

          Parts of the Day<\/h1>\n

          When you talk about the time, there are also different parts of the day. When talking about your daily activities and making plans, it’s important to distinguish which time of the day you’re talking about. As such, here are some more words you’ll need to do this in Chinese:<\/p>\n

            \n
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            early morning (\u65e9\u4e0a – z\u01ceo sh\u00e0ng)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
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            morning (\u4e0a\u5348 – sh\u00e0ng w\u01d4)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
          • \n

            noon (\u4e2d\u5348 – zh\u014dng w\u01d4)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
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            afternoon (\u4e0b\u5348 – xi\u00e0 w\u01d4)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
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            evening (\u665a\u4e0a – w\u01cen sh\u00e0ng)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
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            night (\u591c\u91cc – y\u00e8 l\u01d0)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
          • \n

            midnight (\u534a\u591c – b\u00e0n y\u00e8)<\/h3>\n