汉语语法第二讲：Time Words in Chinese: 年月日 and Beyond

4. 年 (nián) – Year, 月 (yuè) – Month, 日/星期 (rì/xīngqī) – Day/Week

These words represent the basic units of time in Chinese.

年 (nián): Year – Used to indicate the year in a date.

Example: 2023年 (èr líng èr sān nián) – The year 2023

月 (yuè): Month – Used to indicate the month in a date.

Example: 十月 (shí yuè) – October (literally “ten month”)

日 (rì): Day – Used to indicate the day of the month.

Example: 五日 (wǔ rì) – The fifth day of the month

星期 (xīngqī): Week – Used to indicate the day of the week.

Example: 星期一 (xīngqī yī) – Monday (literally “week one”)

Examples of combined usage:

今天是2023年10月27日，星期五。(Jīntiān shì èr líng èr sān nián shí yuè èrshíqī rì, xīngqī wǔ.) – Today is October 27, 2023, Friday.

5. 点 (diǎn) – Hour, 分 (fēn) – Minute, 差 (chà) – To, 刻/半 (kè/bàn) – Quarter/Half

These words are used to tell time and express durations.

点 (diǎn): Hour – Indicates the hour of the day.

Example: 八点 (bā diǎn) – Eight o’clock

分 (fēn): Minute – Indicates the minutes past the hour.

Example: 十五分 (shíwǔ fēn) – Fifteen minutes

差 (chà): To – Used with 分 to indicate how many minutes are left until the next hour.

Example: 差一刻 (chà yī kè) – Fifteen minutes to (the next hour)

刻 (kè): Quarter – Represents a quarter of an hour, or 15 minutes.

Example: 三刻 (sān kè) – Forty-five minutes (literally “three quarters”)

半 (bàn): Half – Represents half an hour, or 30 minutes.

Example: 半小时 (bàn xiǎoshí) – Half an hour

Examples of combined usage:

现在是三点一刻。(Xiànzài shì sān diǎn yī kè.) – It’s 3:15 now.

还有十分钟就四点了。(Hái yǒu shí fēnzhōng jiù sì diǎn le.) – It’s ten minutes to four.