How to tell the time in Chinese: A fun and simple guide

Learning to tell the time in Chinese can unlock a whole new world of possibilities.

From asking your friends out to coffee, to double-checking when your Chinese homework is due, being able to speak about and get clarification on the exact time is a must-have skill. It can even be one of the most important skills for international business people, as Chinese is the second-most important language for international business.

Beyond that, the Chinese language also employs many time-related expressions, like time adverbs and chengyu. Learning some time-related vocabulary in Chinese will help you catch more of these references and speak more like a local.

So, whether you’re still working your way through the first few of your online Mandarin classes or are looking to impress some of your Chinese colleagues, we’ll cover some excellent ways to tell the time in Chinese below.

There’s no time to waste, so let’s get started!

Table of contents

• Telling time in Chinese
• How to say the time of day in Chinese
• Chinese time adverbs
• Other time-related phrases in Chinese
• Fun facts about time in Mandarin Chinese

Telling time in Chinese

Before you start working on the time-related vocabulary and expressions, you should already be familiar with some of the basic building blocks of Chinese. You’ll definitely want to know some Chinese numbers as well as the days, months, and years in Chinese. Once you’ve got those down, learning how to tell the time in Chinese is just a matter of learning a few structures and getting comfortable with a couple of measure words!

How to tell the time on the hour

Telling the time on the hour in Chinese is extremely easy. All you need to do is add the measure word 点 (diǎn) after the number of the hour you are trying to say. This is similar to saying “o’clock” in English, when the exact time may or may not be the exact hour. If you want to emphasize that it’s a sharp hour, you can add 整 (zhěng) after the 点 (diǎn).

Alternatively, if you want to talk about hours as a unit of time, you can use the noun 小时 (xiǎo shí), which means hour, along with the measure word 个 (gè). While using the measure word is pretty common, it is also optional, so you don’t always have to use it. Here are some examples for talking about hours as units of time both with and without the measure word 个 (gè):

How to tell exact minutes in Chinese

To tell the time with precise minutes, all you need to do is add the number of minutes immediately after the 点 (diǎn) as described in the previous section. You may choose to emphasize the minutes by adding 分 (fēn) after the number of minutes, which is short for 分钟 (fēn zhōng), the Chinese word for minutes. However, most people omit this as it’s implied that you’re referring to the minutes. Here are a few examples:

Now that you know how to say hours and minutes in Chinese, you can use them as time measurements. Here are a few examples of how you can talk about one minute, fifteen minutes, an hour and forty-five minutes, and more!

How to say half past, quarter past, and quarter to

Just like English, Chinese can also divide the hours in halves and quarters to tell the time. While using these forms to tell time isn’t necessary (you can stick to 15 and 30 minutes if you’d like!), you should still be aware of them for when you hear them in the wild. One thing to note is that, although you can also say “it’s a quarter to three” like we do in English, this is less common in Chinese, as simply saying “it’s two and three quarters” sounds more natural. Here are some examples:

And if you want to talk about quarters or half hours as a measure of time, you can also do that by following the structure below:

How to ask for the time in Chinese?

Once you’ve gotten a handle on some sentences to tell the time, it’s time to learn how to ask for the time in Chinese. Below, we’ll cover a few ways to ask what the time is with varying levels of formality to help you find the right one. Plus, with remote work being now more common than ever, we’ve also included a way to ask someone what timezone they’re in!

How to say the time of day in Chinese

Often times, we’ll want to discuss things that happened or will happen in a particular time of the day without going into too much detail. Maybe you have plans this evening, but don’t need to be specific about them. Perhaps you want to know what your friend is planning tomorrow morning or if they’re free in the afternoon to study. For those scenarios, Chinese has a few words with no precise time boundaries to help you make plans with broad strokes.

Now, here are some helpful sentences using some of the time of day vocabulary we covered above. Can you think of a few more examples using the vocabulary above?

Chinese time adverbs

Time adverbs can help us talk about time without explicitly mentioning it. Sometimes you need to do something immediately, or want to ask someone if they’re free later, or if they’re almost done with their homework. Whatever the case, these adverbs help us talk about time indirectly in everyday conversations. Here are a few Chinese adverbs of time that you should be familiar with:

Other time-related phrases in Chinese

If you’re pressed for time and just want to learn a few short and helpful phrases, then boy oh boy do we have the right cheat sheet for you! The table below has a handful of super short and super helpful time-related phrases in Chinese that you can use in your daily life.

Fun facts about time in Mandarin Chinese

How ancient Chinese measure time - 12 Shi Chen

If you’re interested in astrology, then you probably already know that your time of birth can change your birth chart, as the positions of the planets change by the second. However, did you know that Chinese zodiacs also change by the hour?

The 十二时辰 (shí èr shí chén) are two-hour periods that each represent a different animal in the Chinese zodiac. The time of the day you were born influences your emotions and personality, as does the day, month, and year. Which Chinese hour zodiac are you?

Chinese proverbs on time

If you’ve been studying Chinese for a while now, you know that the Chengyu and many other forms of idioms are incredibly common in everyday speak. Virtually all topics have specific Chengyu and idioms, which impart little nuggets of Chinese wisdom and history in just a few words. Here are some of the most important proverbs about time in Chinese.

No time like today to learn how to tell the time

As you now know, learning to tell the time in Mandarin isn’t hard once you know the numbers, so why not tackle this milestone today? Soon, you’ll be able to ask your friends for the time, talk about time periods, and make more effective plans for study dates and business meetings!

If you can’t count the time until you pick up your next Mandarin skill, then head over to our Chinese blog! We routinely publish helpful and easy-to-read guides to help you learn different parts about Chinese, like our guide to all Chinese radicals and our expert tips to learning Chinese characters!