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Daily lessons · Day 9 of 90
What time is it
Telling the time
Clock time in Chinese is built from three small words and the numbers you already know from day 4. There is nothing irregular in it, which makes this one of the easiest days in the course.
On the hour
点 is o'clock. Put a number in front of it and you are done.
Why it works
English has to and past. Chinese counts forward only: the hour first, then how far into it you are. There is no quarter to, so five to six becomes 差五分六点, short by five minutes of six o'clock. Once you notice that 差 means short by, the shape of it stops being strange.
Minutes and how long
分 is a minute of clock time, 分钟 is a length of time.
Why it works
点 and 分 mark a moment, while 小时 and 分钟 measure a stretch. Chinese keeps them apart more strictly than English does, which uses hour and minute for both. Say 三点 and you mean three o'clock. Say 三个小时 and you mean three hours long, which is why it needs 个 in front of it.
Which part of the day
Chinese does not use am and pm. It names the part of the day and puts it first.
Why it works
The part of the day always comes before the hour, never after, which matches the general rule that Chinese moves from the large unit to the small one. It is the same logic that puts the year before the month and the country before the city in an address. Once you see it as one habit rather than several rules, most of Chinese word order stops needing memorising.
One clock for the whole country
China spans about five thousand kilometres from west to east and runs on a single time zone, Beijing time. In Xinjiang that means the official clock says eight in the morning while the sky says six, so many people there keep an unofficial local time two hours behind for meals and meeting friends. If you travel that far west, ask which time someone means.
Carried over from earlier days
Say each one out loud before you look at the English.
Today’s words 12
Check yourself
8 questions. Get 6 right to finish the day.
Which one is half past three?
- 三点半 sān diǎn bàn
- 半三点 bàn sān diǎn
- 三半点 sān bàn diǎn
- 点三半 diǎn sān bàn
Show the answer
三点半 sān diǎn bàn The hour first, then 半 for half.
Type what time is it now in pinyin.
Show the answer
xiànzài jǐ diǎn 几 asks for a small number, so it is the right question word for hours.
Two o'clock is 两点, not 二点. Why?
- 两 is used for quantities of things, and 二 for counting and reading out digits
- 二 is not a real word
- 两 is more polite
- 二 is only used in Taiwan
Show the answer
两 is used for quantities of things, and 二 for counting and reading out digits Two of anything is 两. 二 appears in 十二 and in phone numbers.
What does 差五分六点 mean?
- five to six
- six minutes past five
- five past six
- six hours and five minutes
Show the answer
five to six 差 means short by, so it is five minutes short of six.
Which word would you use for a twenty minute journey?
- 分钟 fēnzhōng
- 分 fēn
- 点 diǎn
- 半 bàn
Show the answer
分钟 fēnzhōng 分钟 measures a length of time. 分 marks a point on the clock.
Where does 晚上 go in 晚上七点?
- before the hour
- after the hour
- at the end of the sentence
- it can go anywhere
Show the answer
before the hour Large unit first, small unit second, every time.
Type eight in the morning in pinyin.
Show the answer
zǎoshang bā diǎn 早上 is the early morning, then the hour.
Why does China have only one time zone?
- it is a political decision, and the whole country runs on Beijing time
- the country is narrow
- the sun rises at the same time everywhere
- time zones were abolished worldwide
Show the answer
it is a political decision, and the whole country runs on Beijing time In the far west the official clock can be about two hours ahead of the sun.
Question 1 of 8
Writing practice optional
Every character from today, in the order it came up. Watch it, trace it, then write it from memory.
Press Watch to see the stroke order.
Stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi via Hanzi Writer, Arphic Public License.
Character 1 of 27
This lesson is written by an English speaker who learned Mandarin as a second language, and it is waiting on a check by a native speaker. If you spot something off, please tell us and we will fix it.