Languages › Mandarin Telling Time in Mandarin Chinese Share Flipboard Email Print aiqingwang / Getty Images Mandarin Vocabulary Mandarin History and Culture Pronunciation Understanding Chinese Characters By Qiu Gui Su Qiu Gui Su Chinese Language Expert Qiu Gui Su is a native Mandarin speaker who has taught Mandarin Chinese for over 20 years. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on March 02, 2019 When navigating everyday life, it is important to know how to tell the time in order to schedule meetings, meet up with friends, know that you're running on time, and so on. The Chinese time system is fairly straightforward, and once you have learned your numbers you just need a few more vocabulary words to be able to tell the time. Here is an introduction on how to tell the time in Mandarin Chinese so that you can make plans while in a Chinese-speaking region. Numbering System Before learning talk about time in Mandarin Chinese, you need a solid grasp of Mandarin numbers. Here is a quick review of the Mandarin numbering system: All number vocabulary is based on the numbers from zero to ten. Multiples of 10 are expressed as 2-10 (20), 3-10 (30), etc. Numbers above 10 are expressed as 10-1 (11), 20-3 (23), etc. The number 2 has two forms: èr when counting, and liǎng when used with a measure word (as in telling the time). Time Vocabulary This is a list of time-related Chinese vocabulary words. Audio files are included to help you with pronunciation and listening comprehension skills. 小時 xiǎo shí: hour 鐘頭 (traditional) / 钟头 (simplified) zhōng tóu: hour 分鐘 / 分钟 fēn zhōng: minute 秒 miǎo: second 早上 zǎo shang: morning 上午 shàng wǔ: morning 中午 zhōng wǔ: noon 下午 xià wǔ: afternoon 晚上 wǎn shang: evening 夜裡 / 夜里 yè lǐ: late night 甚麼時候 / 什么时候? shénme shíhou: when? 幾點 / 几点? jī diǎn: what time? Time Format Mandarin time is most commonly expressed in “digital format", which means one would say 10:45 rather than “a quarter to eleven.” However, the word bàn (半), which means “half,” is often used for 30 minutes past the hour. Examples Now that you know your numbers and some basic time-telling vocabulary, let's put it all together. What can you say when someone asks you 現在幾點了 Xiànzài jī diǎn le, or "What time is it?" 10:30十點半 / 十點三十分 shí diǎn bàn / shí diǎn sān shí fēn 11:00十一點鐘 shí yī diǎn zhōng 12:15十二點十五分 shí èr diǎn shí wǔ fēn 1:00一點鐘 yī diǎn zhōng 3:20三點二十分 sān diǎn èr shí fēn 5:55五點五十五分 wǔ diǎn wǔ shí wǔ fēn 8:00 in the morning早上八點 zǎo shang bā diǎn 2:00 in the afternoon下午兩點 xià wǔ liǎng diǎn 9:05 in the evening晚上九點五分 wǎn shang jiǔ diǎn wǔ fēn Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Su, Qiu Gui. "Telling Time in Mandarin Chinese." ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/telling-time-in-mandarin-2279372. Su, Qiu Gui. (2020, August 28). Telling Time in Mandarin Chinese. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/telling-time-in-mandarin-2279372 Su, Qiu Gui. "Telling Time in Mandarin Chinese." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/telling-time-in-mandarin-2279372 (accessed March 27, 2023). copy citation Featured Video