Introduction
Clock time in Chinese runs from the largest unit to the smallest: hour first, then minutes. 点 (diǎn) marks the hour and 分 (fēn) the minutes. The structure itself is simple — the parts that trip people up are 两 (liǎng) versus 二 (èr), when to drop 分, and where the time sits in the sentence.
Overview
Structure: x 点 (diǎn) y 分 (fēn)
| Pattern | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| x 点 | 五点 (wǔ diǎn) | 5:00 |
| x 点 y 分 | 八点十五分 (bā diǎn shíwǔ fēn) | 8:15 |
| x 点半 | 三点半 (sān diǎn bàn) | 3:30 |
| x 点 + 一刻 / 三刻 | 两点一刻 (liǎng diǎn yī kè) | 2:15 |
| x 点零 y 分 | 六点零五分 (liù diǎn líng wǔ fēn) | 6:05 |
| 差 y 分 x 点 | 差五分三点 (chà wǔ fēn sān diǎn) | 2:55 (five to three) |
两点 (liǎng diǎn), not 二点 (èr diǎn):
- For 2 o'clock, always say 两点 (liǎng diǎn), never 二点 (èr diǎn).
- But for 2 minutes, use 二: 三点零二分 (sān diǎn líng èr fēn) — 3:02.
- Rule of thumb: 两 (liǎng) counts things, 二 (èr) is the number itself. Hours are counted; minutes past the hour are read as digits.
- 12 o'clock is 十二点 (shí'èr diǎn) — 二 stays here because it is part of "twelve".
Examples
现在几点？
Xiànzài jǐ diǎn?
What time is it now?
现在五点。
Xiànzài wǔ diǎn.
It's five o'clock.
我八点十五分上班。
Wǒ bā diǎn shíwǔ fēn shàngbān.
I start work at 8:15.
我们三点半见。
Wǒmen sān diǎn bàn jiàn.
Let's meet at 3:30.
他每天早上六点起床。
Tā měitiān zǎoshang liù diǎn qǐchuáng.
He gets up at 6 a.m. every day.
现在两点零五分。
Xiànzài liǎng diǎn líng wǔ fēn.
It's 2:05.
Usage Notes
- Time comes before the verb, not after it as in English: 我七点起床。(Wǒ qī diǎn qǐchuáng.) ✓ ／ 我起床七点。(Wǒ qǐchuáng qī diǎn.) ❌
- When the minutes are zero, drop 分: 五点 (wǔ diǎn) — 5:00, not 五点零分 (wǔ diǎn líng fēn).
- For minutes under 10, insert 零 (líng): 六点零五分 (liù diǎn líng wǔ fēn) — 6:05. Without 零 it sounds like 六点五十分 (liù diǎn wǔshí fēn) — 6:50.
- 分 itself is often dropped in casual speech once the number is clear: 八点十五 (bā diǎn shíwǔ) is fine for 8:15.
- Parts of the day go in front of the time: 早上七点 (zǎoshang qī diǎn) — 7 a.m., 下午三点 (xiàwǔ sān diǎn) — 3 p.m., 晚上八点 (wǎnshang bā diǎn) — 8 p.m. Chinese has no a.m./p.m. suffix.
- To ask the time use 几点 (jǐ diǎn), not 什么时候 (shénme shíhou). 几点 asks for a clock reading; 什么时候 asks "when" in general.