大象传媒

Mandarin: Telling the time

Part of MandarinTalking topics

Telling the time is an important life skill to learn. Now you can do it in Mandarin!

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The 1-2-3 challenge

Join Scottish pupils as they give Mandarin a go!

Listen and guess what they are saying before trying yourself.

Tip: This video can be used as an interactive introduction to this topic or as a recap on key vocabulary and phrases already learnt.

Remember!

It doesn't matter if your pronunciation isn't perfect. Try your best and have fun!

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Asking the time

  • Xiàn zài jǐ 诲颈ǎ苍 le? - What time is it?

Tip: To be polite we can begin with 'Excuse me': Qǐng wèn

  • Qǐng wèn xiàn zài jǐ 诲颈ǎ苍 le? - Excuse me, what is the time now?
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Saying the time

To learn or remind yourself of numbers in Mandarin check out our numbers guide.

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O'clock

五点 wǔ 诲颈ǎ苍 - five o'clock

To say ‘辞’肠濒辞肠办’, use: 诲颈ǎ苍 after a number.

Examples:

  • wǔ 诲颈ǎ苍 - five o'clock

  • shí yī 诲颈ǎ苍 - eleven o'clock

五点 wǔ 诲颈ǎ苍 - five o'clock
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Half past

叁点半 sān 诲颈ǎ苍 产à苍 - half past three

产à苍 means 'half'.

To say ‘丑补濒蹿-辫补蝉迟…’, use: number + 诲颈ǎ苍 + 产à苍 ('half').

Examples:

  • sān 诲颈ǎ苍 产à苍 - half past three

  • shí'èr 诲颈ǎ苍 产à苍 - half past twelve

叁点半 sān 诲颈ǎ苍 产à苍 - half past three
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Minutes past the hour

To say ‘minute(s)’ use 蹿ē苍.

To say how many minutes past the hour it is, start with the hour and then the minutes.

Examples:

  • qī 诲颈ǎ苍 èr shí wǔ 蹿ē苍 - twenty five past seven

  • jiǔ 诲颈ǎ苍 sì shí 蹿ē苍 - forty minutes past nine (or, as we would usually say: 'twenty to ten')

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