Lesson 8 - Time

Time is precious. So use your time wisely.

Time in Chinese is "时间 (shi2 jian1)." So like any other nouns,

1. 我　没有　时间。(wo3 mei2 you3 shi2 jian1) - I don't have time.

Here are some words that will allow you to express time in Chinese:

1. 时 (shi2) - o'clock (written)
2. 点 (dian3) - o'clock (spoken, informal)
3. 分 (fen1) - minutes
4. 秒 (miao3) - seconds.
5. 半 (ban4) - half (used for 30 minutes, ie, half an hour)
6. 下午 (xia4 wu3) - Afternoon
7. 上午 (shang4 wu3)/早上 (zao3 shang4) - Morning
8. 中午 (zhong1 wu3) - Noon
9. 晚上 (wan3 shang1) - Night
10. 傍晚 (bang4 wan3) - Evening
11. 凌晨 (ling2 chen2) - Midnight till before daybreak

For example,

1. 11.25AM - 上午　十一时　二十五分
2. 5.45PM - 傍晚　五时　四十五分
3. 9.30PM - 晚上　九时半

时 is replaced by 点 in spoken or informal conditions for all the above examples.

To quantify hours,　个 (ge4) is used.

1. 小时 (xiao3 shi2) - hours (quantified)
2. 分钟 (fen1 zhong1) - minutes (quantified)
3. 秒钟 (miao3 zhong1) - seconds (quantified)

For example,

1. 四个　小时 (si4 ge4 xiao3 shi2) - four hours
2. 五分钟 - 5 minutes

However do note in more formal situations, the quantified versions are not used. 4 hours will still be written as 四时 in these situations.

Dates are written in the form YYYY年 MM月 DD日, where the words mean the following:

1. 年 (nian2) - year
2. 月 (yue4) - month
3. 日 (ri4) - day

So, 20 April 2012 will be written as 二零一二年 四月 二十日，or 两千零（一）十二年 四月 二十日.

Days of the weeks are as follows:

1. 星期一 (xing1 qi1 yi1) - Monday
2. 星期二 (xing1 qi1 er4) - Tuesday
3. 星期三 (xing1 qi1 san1) - Wednesday
4. 星期四 (xing1 qi1 si4) - Thursday
5. 星期五 (xing1 qi1 wu3) - Friday
6. 星期六 (xing1 qi1 liu4) - Saturday
7. 星期日 (xing1 qi1 ri4) or 星期天 (xing1 qi1 tian1) - Sunday

And some words which will be useful in building your sentences:

1. 现在 (xian4 zai4) - Now
2. 刚才 (gang1 cai2) - Just Now
3. 待会儿 (dai1 hui3 er2) - Later
4. 等一下 (deng3 yi1 xia4) - Later (colloquial)
5. 今天 (jin1 tian1) - Today
6. 昨天 (zuo2 tian1) - Yesterday
7. 明天 (ming2 tian1) - Tomorrow
8. 后天 (hou4 tian1) - Day after tomorrow
9. 星期 (xing1 qi1) - Week
10. 上个星期 (shang4 ge4 xing1 qi1) - Last Week
11. 这个星期 (zhe4 ge4 xing1 qi1) - This Week
12. 下个星期 (xia4 ge4 xing1 qi1) - Next Week

For example,

1. 现在，我 在吃 饭。(xian4 zai4, wo3 zai4chi1 fan4) - Now, I am eating rice.
2. 昨天，他 没买 裤子。(zuo2 tian1, ta1 mei2 mai3 ku1 zi3) - Yesterday, he did not buy trousers.
3. 上个星期三，我 看见 张老师。(shang4 ge4 xing1 qi1 san1, wo3 kan4 jian4 zhang1 lao3 shi1) - Last Wednesday, I saw teacher Zhang.

Form your own sentences using the verbs, nouns and the time words in the comments below!