Telling Time & Dates
时间表示法
Tell dates, days, and clock time
Chinese time expressions always go from BIGGEST to SMALLEST: year, month, day, day of week, hour, minute. Clock time uses 点 (o'clock) and 分 (minutes).
日 is used in written/formal contexts; 号 (hào) is used in spoken Chinese for the day of the month.
Lesson Targets
Podcast
Podcast: Telling Time & Dates (时间表示法)
Listen to Jason & Amy explain the 时间表示法 pattern
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Understanding 时间表示法
Chinese time is wonderfully logical — it always flows from big to small, like a zoom lens focusing in. Start with the year, zoom into the month, then the day, then the hour, then the minute. It's the opposite of American English ("March 10th, 2026") and exactly like ISO format (2026-03-10). Once you internalize "big to small," dates and times become a breeze. Clock time is equally straightforward: 三点十五分 = 3:15. This "big to small" principle isn't just for time — it runs through all of Chinese logic. Addresses go from country to street number, and names go surname first. Once you see this pattern, Chinese starts feeling incredibly organized and consistent.
Key Points
- Dates: Year年 + Month月 + Day日/号 — 2026年3月10日
- Days of the week: 星期一 through 星期日 (Monday to Sunday). 星期天 also means Sunday
- Clock time: Number + 点 = o'clock. 三点 = 3:00
- Half past: X点半 — 七点半 = 7:30
- Minutes: X点Y分 — 九点十五分 = 9:15
- Minutes to: 差X分Y点 — 差五分三点 = five to three (2:55)
- Full order: year → month → day → day of week → time period → hour → minute
- Quarter past: X点一刻 — 三点一刻 = 3:15. 刻 (kè) means "quarter hour"
- Months are simply numbered: 一月 (January) through 十二月 (December) — no memorization needed!
Chinese uses 上午 (morning), 下午 (afternoon), and 晚上 (evening) instead of AM/PM. These time-of-day words go BEFORE the hour: 下午三点 (3:00 PM), not 三点下午. Also, years are read digit by digit: 2026 = 二零二六, not 两千零二十六.
Key Vocabulary
Example Sentences
2026年3月10日。
March 10, 2026.
Big to small: year → month → day
今天星期二。
Today is Tuesday.
现在五点半。
It's 5:30 right now.
差两分八点。
Two minutes to eight (7:58).
差 = lacking/short of
我们下午三点十五分上课。
We have class at 3:15 PM.
她1998年8月20号出生。
She was born on August 20, 1998.
号 is the spoken form of 日 for dates
火车晚上十点一刻到。
The train arrives at 10:15 PM.
一刻 = quarter past
我每天早上七点半起床。
I get up at 7:30 every morning.
Daily routine with time
会议下午两点到四点。
The meeting is from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
Using 到 for time ranges at work
你几点下班？
What time do you get off work?
Common question among coworkers
Common Mistakes
Chinese time ALWAYS goes big to small. Year first, then month, then day. Never the reverse.
Time-of-day words (上午, 下午, 晚上) go BEFORE the hour, not after it. Think: big to small = time period before specific hour.
Years are read digit by digit in Chinese. 2026 = 二-零-二-六, not "two thousand twenty-six."
Practice Exercises
Tips & Tricks
The golden rule: BIG to SMALL. Year → month → day → hour → minute. This applies to dates, addresses, and names too — Chinese always goes from general to specific.
For days of the week, just count: 星期一 = Week-1 (Monday), 星期二 = Week-2 (Tuesday), etc. Sunday breaks the pattern: 星期日 or 星期天.
When speaking casually, you can drop 分 if the context is clear: 三点十五 instead of 三点十五分. But always keep 半: 三点半, never just 三半.
Chinese months are just numbers: 一月 = January, 二月 = February... 十二月 = December. No need to memorize random month names like in English!
Remember 刻 (kè) for quarter hours: 一刻 = :15, 三刻 = :45. This sounds more natural than saying 十五分 or 四十五分 in casual speech.
Homework
Write out five important dates and times in your life using full Chinese format (year, month, day, day of week, time). Example: your birthday, your school/work start time, your next holiday, etc. Read them aloud to practice the digit-by-digit year reading.