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:
Character Pinyin English
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 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
The glyph contrast of time in Chinese
time-zones
The order of strokes of time in Chinese
time-now
The calligraphy of time in Chinese
central-time
Some basic words for saying time in Chinese
时 [shí] / 小时 [xiǎo shí] – Hour. For example:
Character Pinyin English
八个小时 bā gè xiǎo shí Eight hours.
点 [diǎn] / 点钟 [diǎn zhōng] – O’clock. For example:
Character Pinyin English
九点 jiǔ diǎn Nine o’clock.
分 [fēn] / 分钟 [fēn zhōng] – Minute. For example:
Character Pinyin English
十分钟 shí fēn zhōng Ten minutes.
秒 [miǎo] / 秒钟 [miǎo zhōng] – Second. For example:
Character Pinyin English
五秒钟 wǔ miǎo zhōng Five seconds.
second
半 [bàn] – Half. For example:
Character Pinyin English
三点半 sān diǎn bàn Half past three.
刻 [kè] – Quarter. Fifteen minutes. For example:
Character Pinyin English
十点一刻 shí diǎn yī kè A quarter past ten.
现在 [xiàn zài] – Now. For example:
Character Pinyin English
现在是10点20分。 xiàn zài shì shí diǎn èr shí fēn。 It is ten twenty now.
now
凌晨 [líng chén] – Morning, a.m. For example:
Character Pinyin English
凌晨三点 líng chén sān diǎn Three o’clock in the morning. Three o’clock a.m.
早上 [zǎo shàng] / 上午 [shàng wǔ] – Morning, a.m. For example:
Character Pinyin English
早上八点十分 zǎo shàng bā diǎn shí fēn Ten past eight in the morning. Ten past eight a.m.
中午 [zhōng wǔ] – Noon. For example:
Character Pinyin English
中午十二点 zhōng wǔ shí èr diǎn Twelve o’clock at noon.
下午 [xià wǔ] – Afternoon, p.m. For example:
Character Pinyin English
下午三点一刻 xià wǔ sān diǎn yī kè A quarter past three in the afternoon. A quarter past three p.m.
晚上 [wǎn shàng] – Evening, night, p.m. For example:
Character Pinyin English
晚上十点半 wǎn shàng shí diǎn bàn Half past ten at night. Half past ten p.m.
半夜 [bàn yè] – Midnight. For example:
Character Pinyin English
半夜十二点 bàn yè shí èr diǎn Twelve o’clock at midnight.
How to ask the time in Chinese
现在几点了 ?[xiàn zài jǐ diǎn le?] – What time is it now?
what-time-is-it
Speaker Character Pinyin English
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.
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.
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
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?
时钟 [shí zhōng] – Clock.
clock
闹钟 [nào zhōng] – Alarm clock.
alarm-clock
手表 [shǒu biǎo] – Watch.
watch
之前 [zhī qián] – Before. For example:
Character Pinyin English
十点之前 shí diǎn zhī qián Before ten o’clock.
之后 [zhī hòu] – After. For example:
Character Pinyin English
十点之后 shí diǎn zhī hòu After ten o’clock.
大约 [dà yuē] / 左右 [zuǒ yòu] / 差不多 [chà bù duō] – About.
Speaker Character Pinyin English
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.
之间 [zhī jiān] – Between…and. For example:
Character Pinyin English
九点到十一点之间 jiǔ diǎn dào shí yī diǎn zhī jiān Between nine and eleven o’clock.
之内 [zhī nèi] – Within. In.
Speaker Character Pinyin English
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
时光 [shí guāng] – Time.
date-and-time
时辰 [shí chén] – One of the 12 two-hour periods of the day in ancient China. Time.
time-is
时候 [shí hòu] – Time. For example:
Character Pinyin English
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
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