MODULE 4B

TELLING TIME IN MANDARIN

LEARNING OUTCOMES
• At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:
1. Tell time in Mandarin
2. Write the time in Pinyin
When you want to ask someone out on a date,
what’s one of the first things you need to discuss?
• The time of your meet-up, of course!
• This is one reason why telling time is considered to be a basic
conversation skill for Chinese learners.
• Knowing how to indicate time helps you arrange all social
occasions from first dates to business meetings.
• With the essential skill of time-telling, you’ll be better able
to manage your schedule and coordinate with others.
• So, let’s get started on learning how to tell time in Chinese.
How to Name Hours in Chinese
•We’ll begin by learning how to tell
hours in Chinese. To tell the hour,
simply say:
•number of the hour (diǎn – o’clock)
Let us review, first:
• yī – one
• liǎng – two (*Note that when referring to time and currency, we use a different
word for two than the one for counting, which is (èr) two.)
• sān – three
• sì – four
• wǔ – five
• lìu – six
• qī – seven
• bā – eight
• jǐu – nine
• shí – ten
• shí yī – eleven
• shí èr – twelve
Now that we’ve covered digits 1 through 12,
we can easily tell hours in Chinese. For
example:
•liǎng diǎn – two o’clock
•qī diǎn – seven o’clock
•shí yī diǎn – eleven o’clock
•shí èr diǎn – twelve o’clock
How to Name Minutes in Chinese
• number + fēn – minutes

Examples
shí sān fēn – thirteen minutes
shí sì fēn – fourteen minutes
sān shí sān fēn – thirty – three minutes
wǔ shí fēn – fifty minutes

• Note that, whereas in English it’s fine to omit the word “minutes” (for 8:10,
we just say “eight ten”), in Chinese it sounds more natural to always
include fēn and say “minutes.”
• So, it’s correct to say, bā diǎn shí fēn, literally eight o’clock ten minutes.
 How to Tell Half and Quarter Hours
• To say “half past,” we use (bàn) which means “half.” For example:
wǔ diǎn bàn – half past five, 5:30

• To indicate quarters, we say , yī kè, which means “quarter hour.” For

example:
sān diǎn yī kè – quarter past three, 3:15.

• Just to note, in Chinese, there’s no “ten to” or “ten past.” Similarly, in

Chinese, there’s also no “quarter to.” There’s only “quarter after.”
How to Tell Any Time in Chinese
•11:20 – shí yī diǎn èr shí fēn (eleven twenty)
•4:10 – sì diǎn shí fēn (four ten)
•9:15 – jǐu diǎn shí wǔ fēn) nine fifteen or jǐu
diǎn yī kè (quarter after nine)
•1:30 – yī diǎn sān shí fēn) one thirty or yī diǎn
bàn (half past one)
 Morning or Afternoon?
• To indicate a.m. and p.m. in Chinese we say “in the morning,” “in
the afternoon” or “in the evening.” There’s no direct translation of
a.m. and p.m.. Most of the time, a.m. and p.m. is understood in
context.

zǎo shàng – morning

xià wǔ – afternoon
wǎn shàng – evening
zhōng wǔ – noon
bàn yè – midnight/middle of the night
Here are some examples of the vocabulary being
used to tell time:
• 5:00 a.m. – zǎo shàng wǔ diǎn (five in the morning)
• 3:00 p.m. – xià wǔ sān diǎn (three in the afternoon)
• 7:10 p.m. – wǎn shàng qī diǎn shí fēn (seven ten in the
evening)
• 12:00 p.m. – zhōng wǔ shí èr diǎn (twelve noon)
• 2:30 a.m. – bàn yè liǎng diǎn bàn (two thirty midnight
or in the middle of the night)
Let’s try!!!
• 10:45 in the morning
• 6:23 p.m.
• 1:15 a.m.
• 11:38 p.m.
• 2: 57 a.m.
• 12:10 midnight
• 8:56 p.m
• 9:30 a.m
• 12:10 p.m