Chinese grammar · Beginner (A1)
Time and dates
Telling the time with 点, 半, 刻 and 分, parts of the day, days of the week, and dates from the biggest unit to the smallest.
What time is it?
(diǎn) is “o'clock” and (fēn) is “minute”. The hour comes first, then the minutes: (qī diǎn èrshí, 7:20). (bàn) is “half past” and (kè) is a quarter of an hour. Two o'clock is (liǎng diǎn), not 二点.
Minutes under ten take (líng): (qī diǎn líng wǔ, 7:05). 差 (chà, short of) gives the minutes before the hour: (chà wǔ fēn bā diǎn, five to eight). To ask the time, say (Xiànzài jǐ diǎn?).
| Time | Chinese |
|---|---|
| 1:00 | (yì diǎn) |
| 2:00 | (liǎng diǎn) |
| 7:05 | (qī diǎn líng wǔ) |
| 7:15 | (qī diǎn yí kè), (qī diǎn shíwǔ) |
| 7:30 | (qī diǎn bàn) |
| 7:45 | (qī diǎn sān kè), (qī diǎn sìshíwǔ) |
| 7:55 | (chà wǔ fēn bā diǎn), (qī diǎn wǔshíwǔ) |
| 12:00 | (shí'èr diǎn) |
- 现在几点？Xiànzài jǐ diǎn?What time is it now?
- 现在九点半。Xiànzài jiǔ diǎn bàn.It's half past nine.
- 我七点一刻吃早饭。Wǒ qī diǎn yí kè chī zǎofàn.I have breakfast at a quarter past seven.
Parts of the day
Chinese has no “a.m.” and “p.m.”. Instead, the part of the day comes before the clock time, from big to small: (xiàwǔ sān diǎn, 3 p.m.), (wǎnshang bā diǎn, 8 p.m.).
| Chinese | Roughly |
|---|---|
| (zǎoshang) | early morning, about 6 to 9 |
| (shàngwǔ) | morning, until about 12 |
| (zhōngwǔ) | midday, about 12 to 2 |
| (xiàwǔ) | afternoon |
| (wǎnshang) | evening and night |
| (bànyè) | the middle of the night |
- 她早上六点半起床。Tā zǎoshang liù diǎn bàn qǐchuáng.She gets up at 6:30 in the morning.
- 我们晚上八点见。Wǒmen wǎnshang bā diǎn jiàn.See you at 8 p.m.
Days of the week
The days are numbered: (xīngqī, week) + one to six, starting with Monday. Sunday is (xīngqītiān) or, a little more formally, (xīngqīrì).
On timetables, signs and in messages you'll also see (zhōu): (zhōuyī, Monday), (zhōumò, weekend). To ask the day, say (Jīntiān xīngqī jǐ?).
| English | Chinese |
|---|---|
| Monday | (xīngqīyī) |
| Tuesday | (xīngqī'èr) |
| Wednesday | (xīngqīsān) |
| Thursday | (xīngqīsì) |
| Friday | (xīngqīwǔ) |
| Saturday | (xīngqīliù) |
| Sunday | (xīngqītiān), (xīngqīrì) |
- 今天星期几？Jīntiān xīngqī jǐ?What day is it today?
- 今天星期五。Jīntiān xīngqīwǔ.Today is Friday.
Dates: from big to small
Dates go from the biggest unit to the smallest: year, month, day, then the day of the week and the time. Years are read digit by digit: 2026 is (èr líng èr liù nián). Months are a number + (yuè): (sānyuè) is March.
The day of the month is (hào) in speech and (rì) in writing. So 14 March 2026 is written 2026年3月14日 and said (èr líng èr liù nián sānyuè shísì hào). To ask the date, say (Jīntiān jǐ hào?).
- 今天几号？Jīntiān jǐ hào?What's the date today?
- 今天三月十四号。Jīntiān sānyuè shísì hào.Today is 14 March.
- 我的生日是十月一号。Wǒ de shēngrì shì shíyuè yī hào.My birthday is on 1 October.
- 二零二六年三月十四号，星期六èr líng èr liù nián sānyuè shísì hào, xīngqīliùSaturday, 14 March 2026
Yesterday, today, tomorrow
Words like (zuótiān, yesterday) and (míngtiān, tomorrow) do the job of tenses: the verb itself never changes. They go before the verb or at the start of the sentence, never at the end: (wǒ míngtiān qù Běijīng) or (míngtiān wǒ qù Běijīng), I'm going to Beijing tomorrow.
(qiántiān) is the day before yesterday and (hòutiān) the day after tomorrow. For weeks and months, (shàng, above) means “last” and (xià, below) means “next”: (shàng ge xīngqī, last week), (xià ge yuè, next month). Years use different words.
| Unit | Last | This | Next |
|---|---|---|---|
| day | (zuótiān) | (jīntiān) | (míngtiān) |
| week | (shàng ge xīngqī) | (zhège xīngqī) | (xià ge xīngqī) |
| month | (shàng ge yuè) | (zhège yuè) | (xià ge yuè) |
| year | (qùnián) | (jīnnián) | (míngnián) |
- 我明天去北京。Wǒ míngtiān qù Běijīng.I'm going to Beijing tomorrow.
- 下个星期三你有空吗？Xià ge xīngqīsān nǐ yǒu kòng ma?Are you free next Wednesday?
- 后天上午九点，可以吗？Hòutiān shàngwǔ jiǔ diǎn, kěyǐ ma?The day after tomorrow at 9 a.m., is that OK?