Language/Mandarin-chinese/Grammar/Time

How to express time and duration in Chinese

Greetings everyone!

In this lesson, we will explore the topic of time and duration in Chinese and provide you with useful tools to express these concepts with ease.

Understanding how to talk about time is essential to your Chinese learning journey.

As always, we encourage you to edit and contribute to this wiki page to make it an even more valuable resource for all learners.

Once you've made sense of this lesson, you may be interested in exploring these associated areas: 是...的, How to ask a question in Chinese, Express possession with 有 (yǒu) & Modal Verbs and Auxiliary Verbs.

The time

點/点 (diǎn)

In Chinese, the punctual time (and not the duration) is built with 點/点 (diǎn):

• 一點/一点 (yī diǎn)

01:00

• 兩點/两点 (liǎng diǎn)

02:00

• 三點/三点 (sān diǎn)

03:00

鐘/钟 (zhōng)

We can add 鐘/钟 (zhōng) after 點/点 (diǎn), but it is not mandatory.

• 七點鐘。/七点钟。 (Qī diǎn zhōng.)

7 o'clock.

時/时 (shí)

點/点 (diǎn) can be replaced by 時/时 (shí) in formal speech, but 鐘/钟 (zhōng) cannot be added.

• 七時。/七时。 (Qī shí.)

7 o'clock.

整 (zhěng)

If we want to specify that it is the exact time, we can add 整 (zhěng) after 點/点 (diǎn):

• 七點整。/七点整。 (Qī diǎn zhěng.)

7 o'clock sharp.

Minutes and seconds: 分 (fēn) and 秒 (miǎo)

The minutes are built with 分 (fēn); the seconds are built with 秒 (miǎo).

• 八點五分二十秒。/八点五分二十秒。 (Bā diǎn wǔ fēn èrshí miǎo.)

08:05:20.

半 (bàn) and 一刻 (yí kè)

To say “it's half past 3”, use 半 (bàn); to say “it's a quarter past 10”, use 一刻 (yí kè).

• 三點半。/三点半。 (Sān diǎn bàn.)

It's half past 3.

• 十點一刻。/十点一刻。 (Shí diǎn yí kè.)

It's a quarter past 10.

Number "two": 兩/两 (liǎng)

For the number "two", when it comes to the time, it is necessary to use 兩/两 (liǎng) instead of 二 (èr) and that's only for the number 2, not for the numbers composed with 2 like 12, 22, etc.

Use of the apostrophe

When a syllable that begins with a vowel (zero initial [零聲母/零声母, líng shēngmǔ]), like 二 (èr), is preceded by another syllable, it must be indicated by an apostrophe: shí'èr 十二, Tiān'ānmén 天安門/天安门, etc.

Morning and Afternoon: 上午 (shàngwǔ) and 下午 (xiàwǔ)

In Chinese, we can say 13:00 十三點/十三点 (shísān diǎn), 14:00 十四點/十四点 (shísì diǎn). But it is preferred to say 2 o'clock in the afternoon, 9 o'clock in the morning, etc.

The word "morning" 上午 (shàngwǔ) or "afternoon" 下午 (xiàwǔ) is placed before the time:

• 上午九點二十五分。/上午九点二十五分。 (Shàngwǔ jiǔ diǎn èrshíwǔ fēn.)

9:25 am.

• 下午六點鐘。/下午六点钟。 (Xiàwǔ liù diǎn zhōng.)

6 o'clock pm.

What time is it?

The question for asking the time is:

• 現在幾點了？/现在几点了? (Xiànzài jǐ diǎn le?)

What time is it now?

We can remove the 了 (le) to give less force in the sense of "now":

• 現在幾點？/现在几点? (Xiànzài jǐ diǎn?)

What time is it?

It is quite possible to answer using 現在/现在 (xiànzài):

• 現在三點了。/现在三点了。 (Xiànzài sān diǎn le.)

It's three o'clock now.

Other useful words

At last, here are other useful words related to time:

• 早上 zǎoshànɡ

(early) morning

• 中午 zhōnɡwǔ

midday, noon

• 晚上 wǎnshànɡ

evening

• 前天 qiántiān

the day before yesterday

• 昨天 zuótiān

yesterday

• 今天 jīntiān

today

• 明天 mínɡtiān

tomorrow

• 後天/后天 hòutiān

the day after tomorrow

• 星期 xīnɡqī

week

• 年 nián

year

• 月 yuè

month

• 日 rì

day

• 號/号 hào

number (of the day)

The punctual time

Rule

It is a general rule in Mandarin Chinese that the circumstantial complements are placed before the action verb (we must first set the scene before talking about the action).

The punctual time can take the function of circumstantial complement and thus follows this rule:

• 我今天打電話。/我今天打电话。 (Wǒ jīntiān dǎ diànhuà.)

I'm calling today.

• 我明天去看他。 (Wǒ míngtiān qù kān tā.)

I'll go see him tomorrow.

When: 什麽時候/什么时候 (shénme shíhou)

The question is 什麽時候/什么时候 (shénme shíhou): when?

Like almost all the interrogative in Mandarin Chinese, the answer words are placed in the same position as the interrogative word:

• 你什麽時候回家？/你什么时候回家？ (Nǐ shénme shíhou huí jiā.)

When do you come home?

• 我明天上午回家。 (Wǒ míngtiān shàngwǔ huí jiā.)

I'm going home tomorrow morning.

Time and space

If both the "circumstantial complement of place" and "the circumstantial complement of time" are found in the same sentence, which one comes first?

Time is considered more general than space. It is therefore first:

• 我明天在家打電話。/我明天在家打电话。 (Wǒ míngtiān zài jiā dǎ diànhuà.)

I'll call tomorrow at home.

Note that in Chinese, there is no verb tense. These are the words of time that locate the action in the present, past or future.

The duration

Rule

Unlike the punctual time, the duration is not a circumstantial complement (which is placed before the verb), but a verbal complement which is placed after the verb:

• 我學漢語兩年。/我学汉语两年。 (Wǒ xué hànyǔ liǎng nián.)

I have studied Chinese for 2 years.

Use of 了 (le)

Notice the difference between:

• 我學漢語兩年。/我学汉语两年。 (Wǒ xué hànyǔ liǎng nián.)

I have studied Chinese for two years.

and

• 我學漢語兩年了。/我学汉语两年了。 (Wǒ xué hànyǔ liǎng nián le.)

I have been studying Chinese for two years.

1. In the first sentence, the action does not continue in the present. I studied Chinese 2 years in the past but I am not studying anymore.
2. In the second sentence, the action continues to occur now. I am still studying Chinese now.

Place of the direct object

As the verbal complement is placed after the verb, the place of the direct object can vary:

The official grammar rule wants it to be in front of the action verb:

• 我學兩年漢語了。/我学两年汉语了。 (Wǒ xué liǎng nián hànyǔ le.)

I have been learning Chinese for two years.

But the use of the spoken language is more flexible and the duration can be put behind the direct object:

• 我學漢語兩年了。/我学汉语两年了。 (Wǒ xué hànyǔ liǎng nián le.)

I have been learning Chinese for two years.

We must therefore remember these two sentences that are often used:

• 你學漢語幾年了？/你学汉语几年了？ (Nǐ xué hànyǔ jǐ nián le.)

How many years have you been learning Chinese?

• 我學漢語三年了。/我学汉语三年了。 (Wǒ xué hànyǔ sān nián le.)

I have been learning Chinese for three years.

小時/小时 (xiǎoshí)

小時/小时 (xiǎoshí) is used for the duration of time. It means “hour”.

• 我們一個小時后開會。/我们一个小时后开会。(Wǒmen yīgè xiǎoshí hòu kāihuì.)

We will have a meeting 1 hour later.

Sources

http://www.chine-culture.com/chinois/cours-de-chinois-6-grammaire.php

https://www.hanbridgemandarin.com/article/daily-chinese-learning-tips/time-in-chinese/

Other Lessons

• Use the verb 姓 (xìng)
• Classifiers The Complete Guide
• Conditional Mood
• 是...的
• Plurals
• Separable verbs
• 二 (èr) versus 两 (liǎng)
• Adjectives
• Plural