Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar

talkiNG aBoUt CloCk time aNd CaleNdar time

49.1

To indicate half a minute or half a second, place 半 bàn before the word for minute or second.

半分 半秒

bàn fēn bàn miǎo

half a minute half a second

To indicate one or more minutes or seconds and a half, place 半 bàn immediately after the

word for minute/second.

Minutes Seconds

一分半 一秒半

yī fēn bàn yī miǎo bàn

one and a half minutes one and a half seconds

两分半/兩分半 两秒半/兩秒半

liǎng fēn bàn liǎng miǎo bàn

two and a half minutes two and a half seconds

C6.6.4

49.1.3 telling time

49.1.3.1 o’clock: time on the hour
o’clock time is expressed as follows. 钟/鐘 zhōng is optional and is often not used. The
‘(X) o’clock’ phrase literally means ‘(X) dots of the clock.’

1 o’clock 一点钟/一點鐘 7 o’clock 七点钟/七點鐘

yī diǎn zhōng qī diǎn zhōng

2 o’clock 两点钟/兩點鐘 8 o’clock 八点钟/八點鐘

liǎng diǎn zhōng bā diǎn zhōng

or

二点钟/二點鐘

èr diǎn zhōng

3 o’clock 三点钟/三點鐘 9 o’clock 九点钟/九點鐘

sān diǎn zhōng jiǔ diǎn zhōng

4 o’clock 四点钟/四點鐘 10 o’clock 十点钟/十點鐘

sì diǎn zhōng shí diǎn zhōng

5 o’clock 五点钟/五點鐘 11 o’clock 十一点钟/十一點鐘

wǔ diǎn zhōng shí’yī diǎn zhōng

6 o’clock 六点钟/六點鐘 12 o’clock 十二点钟/十二點鐘

liù diǎn zhōng shí’èr diǎn zhōng

49.1.3.2 reciting time as digital time
The most common way to tell time is to say it the way it appears on a digital clock.

3:50 三点五十分(钟)

三點五十分(鐘)

sān diǎn wǔ shí fēn (zhōng)

4:27 四点二十七分(钟)

四點二十七分(鐘)

sì diǎn èr shí qī fēn (zhōng)

Reciting time with 零 líng ‘zero’

When time is recited as digial time, if the number of minutes is smaller than ten, minutes may

optionally begin with 零 líng ‘zero.’ 零 líng ‘zero’ is also written as ○.