- Talk about TIME of the day in Chinese —–
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早上 zǎoshang, morning
中午 zhōngwǔ, noon
下午 xiàwǔ, afternoon
晚上 wǎnshang, evening, night
早上 好 zǎoshang hǎo. Good morning!
下午 好 xiàwǔ hǎo. Good afternoon!
晚上 好 wǎnshang hǎo. Good night!
o’clock (点钟 diǎnzhōng) - 9:00 (jiǔ diǎnzhōng 九点钟)
half = 30 minutes (bàn 半) - 7:30 (qī diǎn bàn 七点半)
minute (fēn分) - 3:56 (sān diǎn wǔ shí liù fēn三点五十六分)
a quarter = 15 minutes (yí kè 一刻)
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The simple way for TIME expressions:
You say the general time of the day (moring / noon / afternoon / evening) for the first part, then you come to the exact time (hour and minutes) for the second. For the exact time, hour goes before the minute. For example:
7:00 AM 早上七点钟
3:56 三点五十六分
7:30 七点三十分, 七点半
7:15 七点十五分, 七点一刻