How To Tell The Time In Chinese: The Ultimate Guide

Understanding how to tell time in Chinese is more than just a language skill—it helps you connect deeper with Chinese culture. This guide dives into how to express time in Mandarin Chinese. We’ll start with basic numbers and move to more complex time expressions, helping you understand not just the ‘how’ but also the ‘why’ behind certain phrases.

As we go through the guide, you’ll see why some ways of telling time are preferred in different situations. This isn’t just about speaking well—it’s about fitting in with cultural expectations, too. Let’s unlock these insights together, making your journey in Chinese both fluent and culturally informed.

Basic Concepts of Telling Time in Chinese

Numbers

To tell time in Chinese, you need to know the numbers for hours and minutes. It’s pretty simple: hours go from one to twelve, and minutes go from one to fifty-nine. For hours, you say the number, then add ‘点’ (diǎn), which means ‘o’clock.’ For minutes, you say the number followed by ‘分’ (fēn), which means ‘minutes.’

AM and PM

We know how we express hours and minutes, but it’s just as important to understand how to indicate morning, afternoon, and evening in Chinese. Let’s break it down simply.

Morning hours are called ‘上午’ (shàngwǔ), covering from dawn to noon. When it’s afternoon, from noon to early evening, you say ‘下午’ (xiàwǔ). And for evening or night, the term is ‘晚上’ (wǎnshàng).

Knowing these terms really helps when you’re planning your day, setting up meetings, or arranging travel in Chinese-speaking places. It makes things clear and avoids any confusion about what you’re talking about.

Hours, Minutes, Seconds

To tell time in Chinese, you need to know the basics: hours, minutes, and seconds. Let’s break it down. For hours, use the word 点 (diǎn) right after the number. So, 3 o’clock is 三点 (sān diǎn).

For minutes, it’s 分 (fēn) that follows the number. Say it’s fifteen minutes past the hour, you would say 十五分 (shí wǔ fēn).

Seconds are similar, using 秒 (miǎo). So, if it’s 3:15 and 30 seconds, you say 三点十五分三十秒 (sān diǎn shí wǔ fēn sān shí miǎo).

It’s pretty straightforward, right? You just stick the numbers with their respective words for hours, minutes, and seconds, and you’ve got the time.

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How to Tell the Time on the Hour in Chinese?

Notes:

• In Chinese, “diǎn” (点) is used to indicate the hour.
• The number before “diǎn” corresponds to the hour on the clock.
• “Liǎng” (两) is used instead of “èr” (二) for 2:00 to reflect natural language usage in telling time.

Half Past and Quarter Past Times

When you’re talking about times like half past and quarter past in Chinese, it’s pretty simple. For ‘half past,’ you say ‘点半’ (diǎn bàn). Like, 5:30 is ‘五点半’ (wǔ diǎn bàn).

For ‘quarter past,’ you use ‘一刻’ (yī kè), which means ‘a quarter.’ So, 3:15 would be ‘三点一刻’ (sān diǎn yī kè).

These phrases are key if you’re speaking Chinese in everyday life or at work. They help everyone stay on the same page about time, making scheduling smoother. Getting the hang of these will make life a lot easier when you’re dealing with time in Chinese.

Also Read: Colors In Chinese Culture And Their Meanings

How to Ask Time in Chinese?

Conclusion

Learning to tell time in Chinese is a real game changer for both personal and work conversations. As we’ve seen, knowing how to talk about time helps with everyday chats and builds up the basic language skills you need to really get into the culture and handle business well. With some practice, you’ll find that everything from simple hours and minutes to trickier time phrases will start to come naturally. Keep visiting the Translation Blog for more translation articles like this.