Lesson6: Time

I bet you will use this often. To ask about time.

what time is it? = 幾點? (ji dian? | ㄐㄧˇ ㄉㄧㄢˇ?)

what time is it now? = 現在幾點? (xianzai ji dian? | ㄒㄧㄢˋ ㄗㄞˋ ㄐㄧˇ ㄉㄧㄢˇ?)

*現在 (xianzai | ㄒㄧㄢˋ ㄗㄞˋ) = now

what time to go? = 幾點去? (ji dian qu? | ㄐㄧˇ ㄉㄧㄢˇ ㄑㄩˋ?)

what time to go to ___? = 幾點去___? (ji dian qu ___? | ㄐㄧˇ ㄉㄧㄢˇ ㄑㄩˋ ___?)

0 = 零 (ling | ㄌㄧㄥˊ)

1 = 一 (yi | 一)

2 = 二 (er | ㄦˋ) OR 兩 (liang | ㄌㄧㄤˇ)

3 = 三 (san | ㄙㄢ)

4 = 四 (si | ㄙˋ)

5 = 五 (wu | ㄨˇ)

6 = 六 (liu | ㄌㄧㄨˋ)

7 = 七 (qi | ㄑㄧ)

8 = 八 (ba | ㄅㄚ)

9 = 九 (jiu | ㄐㄧㄡˇ)

10 = 十 (shi | ㄕˊ)

Note. In describing time, 2 = 兩 (liang | ㄌㄧㄤˇ) NOT 二 (er | ㄦˋ)

For example:

02.30 = 兩點半 (liang dian ban | ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄉㄧㄢˇ ㄅㄢˋ)

*半 (ban | ㄅㄢˋ) means half. So, it means half past two.

Other way to say 02.30 is:

兩點三十分 (liang dian sanshi fen | ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄉㄧㄢˇ ㄙㄢ ㄕˊ ㄈㄣ)

Let's break the word down into 兩點 (liang dian | ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄉㄧㄢˇ) = two o'clock and 三十分 (sanshi fen | ㄙㄢ ㄕˊ ㄈㄣ) = 30 minutes. 分 (fen | ㄈㄣ) means minute. So, it is two o'clock and 30 minutes.

___o'clock ___minute(s) = ___ 點 ___分 (___ dian ___ fen | ___ ㄉㄧㄢˇ ___ ㄈㄣ)

morning = 早上 (zao shang | ㄗㄠˇ ㄕㄤˋ)

noon = 中午 (zhong wu | ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨˇ)

afternoon = 下午 (xia wu | ㄒㄧㄚˋ ㄨˇ)

night = 晚上 (wan shang | ㄨㄢˇ ㄕㄤˋ)

You may want to use those words above in describing time like: 14.30

14.30 is also 兩點半 (liang dian ban | ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄉㄧㄢˇ ㄅㄢˋ) OR 兩點三十分 (liang dian sanshi fen | ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄉㄧㄢˇ ㄙㄢ ㄕˊ ㄈㄣ) because it is also to be called 02.30.

You can add to make it clear like: Afternoon 14.30

Afternoon 14.30 = 下午兩點半 (xiawu liang dian ban | ㄒㄧㄚˋ ㄨˇ ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄉㄧㄢˇ ㄅㄢˋ) OR 下午兩點三十分 (xiawu liang dian sanshi fen | ㄒㄧㄚˋ ㄨˇ ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄉㄧㄢˇ ㄙㄢ ㄕˊ ㄈㄣ)

After learning that ___o'clock ___minute(s) = ___ 點 ___分 (___ dian ___ fen | ___ ㄉㄧㄢˇ ___ ㄈㄣ), you may wonder what is second(s)? and what is hour? Note that o'clock is different from hour.

hour = 小時 (xiao shi | ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄕˊ)

second(s) = 秒 (miao | ㄇㄧㄠˇ)

You may hear your friend ask How long you have been waiting? = 你等多久了? (ni deng duo jiu le? | ㄋㄧˇ ㄉㄥˇ ㄉㄨㄛ ㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄌㄜ?) (lit. you wait how long [time indicator] have). 了 is used to show that the action has passed.

Probably your answer is like:

1 hour 10 minutes 10 seconds = 一小時十分十秒 (yi xiaoshi shi fen shi miao | 一 ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄕˊ ㄕˊ ㄈㄣ ㄕˊ ㄇㄧㄠˇ)