Telling Time

In order to be able to tell time, you have to get yourself familiar with a few of vocabulary below;
 
1.  o’clock                           diǎn                             点
2.   minute                           fēn/ fēnzhōng              分/分钟
3.      second                         miǎo                             秒       
4.      quarter (15 minutes)    yīkè                              一刻
5.      half (30 minutes)         bàn                              半
6.      “to.. the next hour”      chà                              差

Additional:
7.      Morning                      zǎoshàng                     早上   
8.      Noon                           zhōngwǔ                      中午
9.      Afternoon                   xiǎwǔ                           下午
10.  Evening/Dusk             bàngwǎn                     傍晚
11.  night                            wǎnshàng                    晚上
12.  Midnight                     bànyè                           半夜
13.  Dawn                          límíng                          黎明


Please look at the following example:
 
When the time is exactly 3 o’clock, 4 o’clock, that’s pretty easy:


1. 3 o’clock                 sāndiǎn                        三点
2. 4 o’clock                 sìdiǎn                         四点
3. 12 o’clock               shí’èr diǎn                   十二点


In Chinese there isn’t AM or PM to indicate the time, we use morning 7 o’clock OR night time 7 o’clock. In this case, you just have to add the word “morning”, “noon”, “afternoon”, “evening”, “night”, “midnight”, “dawn” or “dusk” right before the time.


When the minutes is one digit (range from 01 minutes to 09 minutes), we have to mention the “zero”
1. 4:06                         sìdiǎn língliù fēn                     
2. 12: 09                      shí’èr língjiǔ fēn


When the minutes shown are between 10 – 29, we just need to mention the number:
1.      7: 25                qīdiǎn èrshíwǔ fēn
2.      11: 18              shīyīdiǎn shíbā fēn
3.      8:15                 bādiǎn shíwǔ fēn  OR bādiǎn yīkè (MORE COMMON)


When the minutes show exactly 30 minutes, we have to use the word 半“bàn”
1.      9: 30                jiǔdiǎnbàn OR you can also actually say jiǔdiǎn sānshī fēn


When the minute has passed 30 (between 31 – 59), the format of telling time changes. Just like in English when it is 8:35, we read it as “twenty five to nine”, which means “twenty five more minutes is 9 o’clock”. Same thing applies in Chinese, we use差 “chà” in front of the minutes left to the next hour.


1.      8:35                 chà èrshíwǔ fēn jiǔdiǎn
2.      12: 40              chà èshí fēn yīdiǎn
3.      1:45                 chà shíwǔ fēn liángdiǎn OR chà yīkè liángdiǎn


When you have to mention the seconds, you just have to add it right after the minutes.
4:07:20                        sìdiǎn língqīfēn èrshímiǎo
 
However, there is a difference when you have to mention “an hour”, “two hours”, etc…


In this case, hour is translated as 小时 xiǎoshí.
 
For example: When someone ask you, how long should I wait for you?
Your answer: “an hour”
In Chinese, you should say: “一个小时” yīgè xiǎoshí


The word 个 gè is the measure word for hour. So you Must include that right after the number. If it is 2 hours you say, 两个小时 liǎnggè xiǎoshí, if it’s 3 hours, you say: 三个小时 sāngè xiǎoshí, and so on.

 

If you notice when we mention the minute, we only use 分 fēn and not 分钟 fēnzhōng.  However, when you mention minutes to describe a duration of time, you Must use fēnnzhōng.

For example: Someone ask you how long you should we boil the egg.

You answer: “5 minutes”

In Chinese you say: 五分钟 wǔfēnzhōng

Try to translate the following:

1. My uncle wakes up at 7 o’clock in the morning

2. It is 3:30 now

3. I did my homework at 8:15 last night

4. She will go out at 12 noon.

Have a Good Afternoon,

Linda Tan