Native Chinese: Related Chinese Products & Service
Chinese-architecture

How To Say Time In Chinese?

Post by Swing on November 11, 2022, Category: Chinese Learning 
how-to-say-time-in-Chinese

The most common way to say time in Chinese

Time plays a very important role in our daily life. We should learn it well. If you search the internet, time is translated into Chinese as 时间 [shí jiān]. Because we have learnt numbers in Chinese, learning time in Chinese becomes much simpler than we thought.
For example:

CharacterPinyinEnglish
我们要做时间的主人。wǒ men yào zuò shí jiān de zhǔ rén。We should be the masters of time.
time
time

The basic information of time in Chinese

Time in Chinese: 时
Time in pinyin: [shí]
Tone: Second
Radical: 日
Component: 寸
Traditional Form: 時
Stroke Count: 7
Structure: Left to right
Usage: ★★★★

The glyph evolution of time in Chinese

current-time
current-time

The glyph contrast of time in Chinese

time-zones
time-zones

The order of strokes of time in Chinese

time-now
time-now

The calligraphy of time in Chinese

central-time
central-time

Some basic words for saying time in Chinese

  1. [shí] / 小时 [xiǎo shí] – Hour.
    For example:
CharacterPinyinEnglish
八个小时bā gè xiǎo shíEight hours.
  1. [diǎn] / 点钟 [diǎn zhōng] – O’clock.
    For example:
CharacterPinyinEnglish
九点jiǔ diǎnNine o’clock.
  1. [fēn] / 分钟 [fēn zhōng] – Minute.
    For example:
CharacterPinyinEnglish
十分钟shí fēn zhōngTen minutes.
  1. [miǎo] / 秒钟 [miǎo zhōng] – Second.
    For example:
CharacterPinyinEnglish
五秒钟wǔ miǎo zhōngFive seconds.
second
second
  1. [bàn] – Half.
    For example:
CharacterPinyinEnglish
三点半sān diǎn bànHalf past three.
  1. [kè] – Quarter. Fifteen minutes.
    For example:
CharacterPinyinEnglish
十点一刻shí diǎn yī kèA quarter past ten.
  1. 现在 [xiàn zài] – Now.
    For example:
CharacterPinyinEnglish
现在是10点20分。xiàn zài shì shí diǎn èr shí fēn。It is ten twenty now.
now
now
  1. 凌晨 [líng chén] – Morning, a.m.
    For example:
CharacterPinyinEnglish
凌晨三点líng chén sān diǎnThree o’clock in the morning. Three o’clock a.m.
  1. 早上 [zǎo shàng] / 上午 [shàng wǔ] – Morning, a.m.
    For example:
CharacterPinyinEnglish
早上八点十分zǎo shàng bā diǎn shí fēnTen past eight in the morning. Ten past eight a.m.
  1. 中午 [zhōng wǔ] – Noon.
    For example:
CharacterPinyinEnglish
中午十二点zhōng wǔ shí èr diǎn Twelve o’clock at noon.
  1. 下午 [xià wǔ] – Afternoon, p.m.
    For example:
CharacterPinyinEnglish
下午三点一刻xià wǔ sān diǎn yī kèA quarter past three in the afternoon. A quarter past three p.m.
  1. 晚上 [wǎn shàng] – Evening, night, p.m.
    For example:
CharacterPinyinEnglish
晚上十点半wǎn shàng shí diǎn bànHalf past ten at night. Half past ten p.m.
  1. 半夜 [bàn yè] – Midnight.
    For example:
CharacterPinyinEnglish
半夜十二点bàn yè shí èr diǎnTwelve o’clock at midnight.

How to ask the time in Chinese

  1. 现在几点了?[xiàn zài jǐ diǎn le?] – What time is it now?
what-time-is-it
what-time-is-it
SpeakerCharacterPinyinEnglish
A:现在几点了?xiàn zài jǐ diǎn le?What time is it now?
B:十点半。shí diǎn bàn。Half past ten.
  1. 请问现在几点了?[qǐng wèn xiàn zài jǐ diǎn le?] – What time is it now, please? It is a polite way to ask for time.
  2. 不好意思,请问现在几点钟?[bù hǎo yì sī,qǐng wèn xiàn zài jǐ diǎn zhōng?] – Excuse me, What time is it now, please? It is a more polite way to ask for time.
what-time-is-it-now
what-time-is-it-now
  1. 打扰了,能告诉我现在是什么时间么?[dǎ rǎo le,néng gào sù wǒ xiàn zài shì shén me shí jiān me?] – Excuse me, can you tell me what time it is now?
  1. 时钟 [shí zhōng] – Clock.
clock
clock
  1. 闹钟 [nào zhōng] – Alarm clock.
alarm-clock
alarm-clock
  1. 手表 [shǒu biǎo] – Watch.
watch
watch
  1. 之前 [zhī qián] – Before.
    For example:
CharacterPinyinEnglish
十点之前shí diǎn zhī qiánBefore ten o’clock.
  1. 之后 [zhī hòu] – After.
    For example:
CharacterPinyinEnglish
十点之后shí diǎn zhī hòuAfter ten o’clock.
  1. 大约 [dà yuē] / 左右 [zuǒ yòu] / 差不多 [chà bù duō] – About.
SpeakerCharacterPinyinEnglish
A:你明天几点到啊?nǐ míng tiān jǐ diǎn dào ā ?What time will you arrive tomorrow?
B:九点左右吧。jiǔ diǎn zuǒ yòu ba。About nine o’clock.
  1. 之间 [zhī jiān] – Between…and.
    For example:
CharacterPinyinEnglish
九点到十一点之间jiǔ diǎn dào shí yī diǎn zhī jiānBetween nine and eleven o’clock.
  1. 之内 [zhī nèi] – Within. In.
SpeakerCharacterPinyinEnglish
A:十分钟之内完成。shí fēn zhōng zhī nèi wán chéng。Finish it in ten minutes.
B:好的,妈妈。hǎo de,mā mā。Ok, mom.

Other expressions of time in Chinese

  1. 时光 [shí guāng] – Time.
date-and-time
date-and-time
  1. 时辰 [shí chén] – One of the 12 two-hour periods of the day in ancient China. Time.
time-is
time-is
  1. 时候 [shí hòu] – Time.
    For example:
CharacterPinyinEnglish
小时候,我经常和伙伴们一起玩游戏。xiǎo shí hòu,wǒ jīng cháng hé huǒ bàn men yì qǐ wán yóu xì。When I was a kid, I used to play games with my friends.
time-change
time-change

Want to learn real Chinese?

Contact Native-Chinese teacher, we provide native mandarin speaker as your private tutor. Here’s form for contact.

First

Recent Posts

native-chinese
Contact Us
Email: info@native-chinese.com
WhatsApp/WeChat/Mob: 
+86 135 5610 9678
Contact us today, reply within 8 hours
Location
Room 522, A1 Building, XingGang GuoJi, Yingbin Road, Huadu District, Guangzhou, China
Working Hour
Mon - Fri: 8:30 ~ 18:00
Visit Our YouTube Channel
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram
We use cookies in order to give you the best possible experience on our website. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies.
Accept
Privacy Policy