Telling Time in Chinese: Hours, Minutes and Meeting Times

Ask for the time and state the hour

现在 means now. 几点 asks what time it is or at what time something happens. For a scheduled event, replace 现在 with the subject of your question: 会议几点开始？ asks when the meeting starts.

两点 is the usual conversational form for two o’clock. The minute part works differently: two minutes past three is 三点零二分. Notice that reading the digit 二 in a minute value does not require changing it to 两.

Add minutes, half hours and quarters

Put minutes after the hour: 八点十分 is 8:10. 半 means half, so 八点半 is 8:30. 一刻 is a quarter of an hour; 八点一刻 is 8:15. 三刻 can express forty-five minutes, though spelling out the minute value is also clear.

Keep the order fixed: hour, 点, then minute expression. 八点半 is a time, while 半个小时 describes a duration. You can practise by looking at three different clock faces and answering without translating from an English sentence first.

Make morning, afternoon and evening explicit

上午, 下午 and 晚上 help avoid ambiguity. If the other person does not know the context, 八点 alone leaves open whether you mean morning or evening. Put the time-of-day word before the clock time.

Written schedules may use a 24-hour clock. Read the displayed time carefully rather than assuming every number is part of a twelve-hour conversation. When arranging a remote meeting, confirm the date and time zone as well; a clock time alone does not settle those details.

Use clock times inside a sentence

A time expression normally goes before the verb: 我们下午三点开会. It can also establish the topic at the start: 下午三点，我们开会. Do not simply put every time phrase at the end because your own language often does that.

时间 is a broad noun meaning time. 时候 is useful in expressions such as 什么时候, “when.” 几点 asks specifically for a clock time; 什么时候 can receive a broader answer such as tomorrow or next week.

To practise, arrange a meeting with a partner. Ask the starting time, repeat it including the part of the day, then change it once. This checks whether you can respond to a new time rather than recite a single fixed example.

Vocabulary to keep

Words and expressions in this article. Open a word in the dictionary to explore its readings and meanings.

How to use these words

半

半 means half. After a clock hour, 三点半 means half past three, or 3:30. It does not mean half an hour before three. A duration uses a different structure: 半个小时 means half an hour. Keep the clock-time and duration patterns separate, then practice answering both 几点 and 多长时间 with the appropriate one.

刻

刻 can mean a quarter of an hour in a time expression. 三点一刻 is 3:15, and 三点三刻 is 3:45. You can also state the minutes explicitly as 三点十五分 or 三点四十五分. For learners, the explicit minute form is a useful way to check that a quarter-hour expression was understood correctly.

Check your understanding

Choose an answer or say your own response before opening the explanation.

Common questions

Should I say liang dian or er dian for two o’clock?

两点 is the usual conversational form for two o’clock. 二 still appears in contexts such as reading digit strings. Learn the clock expression as a whole rather than replacing every 二 with 两.

Where does the time go in a Mandarin sentence?

A time phrase commonly appears before the verb, often after the subject: 我下午三点出发. It can also frame the sentence at the beginning. Avoid copying an English sentence’s word order automatically.

Keep learning

• Business Chinese: Introductions, Meetings and Clear Requests
• Chinese Travel Phrases: Directions, Prices and Asking for Help
• How to Write an Email in Chinese: Requests, Follow-ups and Rescheduling

Write tone marks with the pinyin tool.

References and further reading

• Thai-language teaching context for telling time

Examples and practice in this lesson are original. Usage varies with the speaker, relationship and setting.