Chapter Four
TELLING TIME
Chapter Outline Learning Objectives
24 Hour Format After studying this chapter you should be able to:
8 Hour Format
4.1 Memorize mandarin translation of telling the time based
on 24 hour and 8 hour format;
4.2Translate and pronounce time with correct tone;
4.3 Recognize rules when translating and telling time
OVERVIEW: Telling Dates
When Chinese tell time, they generally state the period of the day before the exact hour. The period
between midnight and dawn is the early morning, or qīngzǎo. From about 6:00 am to noon is morning, zǎoshàng.
Noon to 6:00 pm is xìawŭ, the afternoon. And, from 6:00 pm until midnight is wǎnshàng.
Official time is sometimes expressed according to the 24-hour clock. You will find it most of the time in
schedules of transportation, like trains, ship, and plane. The 24 hour format is never used in normal conversation,
so when talking to someone about transportation schedule though it is in 24 hour format, someone speaking will
be using 12 hour format when talking. But for the sake of learning time, this chapter will discuss how to translate
24 hour time format, aside from the 12 hour time format and its rules.
LESSON 1. Telling Time: 24 Hour Format
Since you have already mastered counting numbers in Chinese, telling time will be easy for you. All
throughout the lesson you will translate numbers. The basic unit for time are the following:
Hour - dǐan
Minute - fēn
Seconds - miǎo
Half-hour - bàn
Quarter (15 min.) - kè
When translating time using 24 hour format, simply translate the number and then attach its unit. The
time on 24 hour format will be from 00:00 considered as the midnight until 23:59 before the day ends. You can
understand directly the point of time whether morning and afternoon base on numbers. Twenty-four hour format
does not use AM or PM when being translated.
e.g. 20:00 (This time falls in the evening but since we will translate a time using 24 hour format we
will not translate evening or PM) - èr shí dǐan - notice that we have just translated the
20 and never the remaining 00, so the first rule in this case is that time that would end with zeroes are not
included in translating the time.
Time (24-hour format) Translation Time (24-hour format) Translation
00:00 líng dǐan 13:00 shí sān dǐan
01:00 yì dǐan 14:00 shí sì dǐan
02:00 lǐang dǐan 15:00 shí wŭ dǐan
03:00 sān dǐan 16:00 shí lìu dǐan
04:00 sì dǐan 17:00 shí qī dǐan
05:00 wŭ dǐan 18:00 shí bā dǐan
06:00 lìu dǐan 19:00 shí jǐu dǐan
07:00 qī dǐan 20:00 èr shí dǐan
08:00 bā dǐan 21:00 èr shí yì dǐan
09:00 jǐu dǐan 22:00 èr shí èr dǐan
10:00 shí dǐan 23:00 èr shí sān dǐan
11:00 shí yī dǐan
12:00 shí èr dǐan
Time with minutes and seconds are simply translated the same, using their own unit for minute and seconds.
Zero is not pronounce when its starts the time, it is only pronounce when found in between or in minute and
second section. Lǐang is only used in hour section but not in minutes and second.
e.g. 02:45 - lǐang dǐan sì shí wŭ fēn
22:02 - èr shí èr dǐan líng èr fēn
15:02:02 - shí wŭ dǐan líng èr fēn líng èr miǎo
For a concrete example and practice of days of the week click the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6iRnTDMmq4
LESSON 2. Telling Time: 12-Hour Format
The rules used in 24-hour format is also applied in 12 hour format it’s just that when translating the time
in 12-hour format there will be specific time period to be used.
SPECIFIC TIME PERIOD CHINESE TRANSLATION
Before dawn língchén
Morning zǎoshàng/shàngwŭ
Noon zhōngwŭ
Afternoon xiàwǔ
Dusk bāngwǎn/bàngwǎn
Evening wǎnshàng
Night wǎnshàng
Midnight bànyè
A.M. shàngwŭ
P.M xiàwǔ
Generally, you can translate time in 12-hour format using A.M. and P.M. as time period, but when you
want to tell exact time, the use of specific time period is suggested.
For sharp hours using the 12-hour format you can attach the unit zhěng after you translate the hour.
For hours with 30-min. you can use the unit bàn.
For a concrete example and practice of days of the week click the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HMGgnrxjLg
