Lesson 3 Dialogue I Taking Someone Out to Eat on His/ Her Birthday Telling Time Diǎn 点 : Hour (practically a measure word) zhōng 钟 : Clock 两 点 liǎng diǎn: 2 o'clock 十一 点钟 shí yī diǎn zhōng : 11 o'clock 一点 : 1:00 两点 : 2:00 三点 : 3:00 四点 : 4:00 五点 : 5:00 fēn 分 : Minute kè 刻 : 'Quarter of an hour' 五点五分 wǔ diǎn wǔ fēn : 5:05 五点二十分 wǔ diǎn èr shí fēn : Twenty minutes past 5. I never add 'fēn' when saying the time, but I add it when writing the time down. 三点五十(分) sān diǎn wǔ shí (fēn) : Three fifty. Again, fen is preference. 三点一刻 sān diǎn yī kè : A quarter past three. 两点三刻 liǎng diǎn sān kè : A quarter to three. 3:15 = yi ke 2:45 = san ke Update! you don't need to use 'ke' when telling the time, just use fen (分) instead. 半 bàn : Half Bàn always comes after diǎn 两点半 liǎng diǎn bàn : Half past 2. 一点半 yī diǎn bàn : Half past 1 三点半 sān diǎn bàn : Half past 3 Days of the week Days in Chinese are very simple: Monday through Saturday are days (xīngqi) 1 through 6, while Sunday is either "day of sky" (xīngqitiān) or "day of the sun" (xīngqirì). xīngqīyī (Monday)星期一 xīngqīèr (Tuesday) 星期二 xīngqīsān (Wednesday)星期三 xīngqīsì (Thursday) 星期四 xīngqīwŭ (Friday) 星期五 xīngqīliù (Saturday)星期六 xīngqītiān (Sunday)星期天 Other phrases used to indicate the days of the week include: jīntiān (today) 今天 zuótiān (yesterday)昨天 míngtiān (tomorrow)明天 hào (dates)号 Months of the year Months in Chinese are simply the number of the month plus the word "month" (yuè). yīyuè (January)一月 èryuè (February)二月 sānyuè (March)三月 sìyuè (April)四月 wŭyuè (May)五月 liùyuè (June)六月 qīyuè (July)七月 bāyuè (August)八月 jiŭyuè (September)九月 shíyuè (October)十月 shíyīyuè (November)十一月 shíèryuè (December)十二月 Telling time The time of day can be described in general terms or specific times. The following words can be used to describe the general time of day. zăochén (morning)早晨 báitiān (day)白天 zhōngwŭ (noon)中午 xiàwŭ (afternoon)下午 wănshàng (evening)晚上 yè wăn (night)夜晚 bànyè (midnight)半夜 When you want to know a specific time of day, you can ask jĭdiăn le? (What time is it?) or xiànzài jĭ diănzhōng? (What time is it now?) Chinese commonly uses the 24-hour clock for all official listings, including plane and train schedules, store hours, and the program guide for TV stations. For every hour after 12 noon, just add an hour. So 1 p.m. becomes 13, and 8 p.m. becomes 20. bā diăn (8:00) 八点 bànyè yī diăn (1 a.m.) 半夜一点 zăoshàng qī diăn (7 a.m.) 早上七点 shàngwŭ shíyī diăn (11 a.m.)上午十一点 zhōngwŭ shíèr diăn (12 p.m.)中午十二点 xiàwŭ liăng diăn (2 p.m.)下午两点 wănshàng liù diăn (6 p.m.)晚上六点 When expressing time between the hours, use the following terms to break things down. diănzhōng (o’clock) 点钟 xiăoshí (hour)小时 yíkèzhōng (quarter hour)一刻钟 fēnzhōng (minute)分钟 miăo (second)秒 bànxiăoshí (half an hour)半小时 Generally, you can use bàn for "half past," such as jiŭ diăn bàn (9:30). The following are some examples of specific times. bādiăn shífēn (8:10) 八点十分 jiŭdiăn yíkè (9:15)九点一刻 jiŭdiăn bàn (9:30)九点半 shídiăn sān kè (10:45)十点三刻 chà yí kè shíyī diăn (quarter to eleven)差一刻十一点 chà wŭ fēn shíyī diăn (literally: five minutes to eleven) (10:55) 差五分十一点 You can use the following phrases as a guide when talking about time in Chinese. • jīntiān shì xīngqījĭ? (What day is today?) 今天星期几？ • jīntiān shì xīngqīyī. (Today is Monday.)今天是星期一 • nĭ shénme shíhou zŏu? (What day are you leaving?)你什么时候走？ • wŏ xīngqīliù zŏu. (I am leaving on Saturday.)我星期六走 • jīntiān shì jĭ hào? (What’s the date today?)今天是几号？ • jīntiān shì shíèr hào. (Today is the 12th.)今天是十二号 • nĭde shēngrì shì jĭyuè jĭhào? (What month and day is your birthday?) 你的生日是几月几号？ • wŏde shēngrì shì siyue shiliu hào. (My birthday is April 16.) 我的生日是四月十六号
