Time expressions (e.g. telling the time, days, days of the week, months, seasons)

Cambridge IGCSE Mandarin Chinese (0547)

Topic: Everyday Activities

Objective: Time Expressions

This set of notes covers the language needed to talk about time in Mandarin Chinese, including how to tell the time, days of the week, dates, months, and seasons. It is designed for IGCSE learners and includes vocabulary, useful structures, example sentences, and practice activities.

1. Vocabulary

1.1 Numbers (0–60)

• 零 líng – zero
• 一 yī – one
• 二 èr – two
• 三 sān – three
• 四 sì – four
• 五 wǔ – five
• ? ? liù – six
• 七 qī – seven
• ? ? bā – eight
• 九 jiǔ – nine
• 十 shí – ten
• 二十 èrshí – twenty
• 三十 sānshí – thirty
• 四十 sìshí – forty
• 五十 wǔshí – fifty
• ? ?十 liùshí – sixty

1.2 Time‑related words

• 点 (diǎn) – o’clock
• 分 (fēn) – minute
• 半 (bàn) – half (e.g., half past)
• 刻 (kè) – quarter (15 minutes)
• 上午 (shàngwǔ) – morning (AM)
• 下午 (xiàwǔ) – afternoon (PM)
• 晚上 (wǎnshàng) – evening/night
• 现在 (xiànzài) – now
• 已经 (yǐjīng) – already
• 还 (hái) – still / yet

1.3 Days of the week

English	Chinese (Pinyin)
Monday	星期一 (xīngqī yī)
Tuesday	星期二 (xīngqī èr)
Wednesday	星期三 (xīngqī sān)
Thursday	星期四 (xīngqī sì)
Friday	星期五 (xīngqī wǔ)
Saturday	星期? ? (xīngqī liù)
Sunday	星期日 / 星期天 (xīngqī rì / xīngqī tiān)

1.4 Months

Month (English)	Chinese (Pinyin)
January	一月 (yī yuè)
February	二月 (èr yuè)
March	三月 (sān yuè)
April	四月 (sì yuè)
May	五月 (wǔ yuè)
June	? ?月 (liù yuè)
July	七月 (qī yuè)
August	? ?月 (bā yuè)
September	九月 (jiǔ yuè)
October	十月 (shí yuè)
November	十一月 (shí yī yuè)
December	十二月 (shí èr yuè)

1.5 Seasons

Season (English)	Chinese (Pinyin)
Spring	春天 (chūntiān)
Summer	夏天 (xiàtiān)
Autumn / Fall	秋天 (qiūtiān)
Winter	冬天 (dōngtiān)

2. Telling the Time

2.1 Basic structure

To say “It is X o’clock”, use the pattern:

现在是 + hour + 点

Example: 现在是三点。 – “It is three o’clock.”

2.2 Adding minutes

Pattern: 现在是 + hour + 点 + minute + 分

Examples:

• 现在是七点十五分。 – “It is 7:15.”
• 现在是十二点三十分。 – “It is 12:30.”

2.3 Half past and quarter past/to

• Half past: 半 – placed after 点. 三点半 = 3:30.
• Quarter past: 一刻 – after 点. 四点一刻 = 4:15.
• Quarter to: 差一刻 – before the next hour. ? ?点差一刻 = 5:45.

2.4 AM / PM

Use 上午 (shàngwǔ) for morning, 下午 (xiàwǔ) for afternoon, and 晚上 (wǎnshàng) for evening/night.

Example: 上午? ?点 – “8 am”. 下午三点 – “3 pm”.

3. Dates and Calendar Expressions

3.1 Full date format

Pattern: year + 年 + month + 月 + day + 日

Example: 2025年11月16日 – “16 November 2025”.

3.2 Saying the day of the month

Use the cardinal number followed by 日 (rì) or 号 (hào). Both are acceptable, but 号 is more common in spoken Mandarin.

Example: 今天是十五号。 – “Today is the 15th.”

3.3 Weekday expressions

To ask “What day is it today?” say:

今天星期几？

Answer format:

今天星期三。 – “Today is Wednesday.”

4. Example Sentences

1. 我每天七点半起床。 – I get up at 7:30 every day.
2. 我们星期五晚上七点去看电影。 – We go to the cinema at 7 pm on Friday.
3. 我的生日是五月二十号。 – My birthday is on 20 May.
4. 春天的天气很温暖。 – The weather in spring is warm.
5. 现在是下午四点十五分。 – It is 4:15 pm now.

5. Practice Activities

1. Matching Exercise: Match the Chinese time expressions with their English equivalents.
   • 三点半 – ______
   • 九点一刻 – ______
   • 十二点差一刻 – ______
   • 下午五点 – ______
2. Fill‑in the blanks: Write the correct Chinese date.

   Today is 2025‑11‑16.

   Answer: __________

3. Conversation role‑play: In pairs, ask and answer questions about daily schedules using the structures learned.

   Example prompts:

   • 你每天几点起床？
   • 你星期几有体育课？
   • 你最喜欢哪个季节？为什么？
4. Listening/Reading comprehension: Provide a short paragraph describing a typical day. Students must extract the times and write them in Chinese characters.
5. Quiz: Choose the correct option.

   “It is 8:45 am.” – Which Chinese sentence is correct?

   1. 现在是上午? ?点四十五分。
   2. 现在是上午? ?点差一刻。
   3. 现在是上午九点一刻。
   4. 现在是上午? ?点半。

6. Summary Checklist

• Know numbers 0–60 and how to combine them for minutes.
• Use “点” for hours and “分” for minutes.
• Express half‑hours, quarters, and “差一刻”.
• Identify and say the days of the week.
• Write full dates in the format 年‑月‑日.
• Talk about months and seasons.
• Apply the structures in speaking and writing tasks.