Telling Time

Telling Time

Words used for telling time:

点           分           秒           半           刻           差

Time on the hour:

1:00        一点钟

2:00        两点钟 or 二点钟

3:00        三点钟

11:00     十一点钟

12:00     十二点钟

Format …. 点 …. 分 （钟）

3:50        三点五十分（钟）       

4:27        四点二十七分（钟）

When time is recited as digital time, if the number of minutes is smaller than ten, minutes may optionally begin with 零

2:02        两点零二分

To indicate half past the hour, use 半

6:30        六点半

12:30     十二点半

The phrases 一刻 ‘one quarter’ and 三刻 ‘three quarters’ can be used to express a quarter after or a quarter to and 45 minutes after the hour.

7:15        七点一刻

7:45        七点三刻

差introduces minutes before the hour.

6:50        差十分七点

1.42        差十八分两点

Some examples with two or more ways of reciting time:

8.15        八点十五分

                八点一刻

11.30     十一点三十分

                十一点半

12.45     十二点四十五分

                十二点三刻

                差十五分一点

                差一刻一点

In Chinese, instead of the two-way distinction between am and pm, time is categorized as follow:

Morning (early hours, 6-8 or 9 am)                           早上

Before noon （8 or 9am until noon）                    上午

Midday (12 noon or the time around noon)         中午

Afternoon (1 pm to 6 pm)                                            下午

Evening                (beginning approximately 6pm)                               晚上

Midnight – middle of night (midnight to 3am)     半夜

Money and Prices

Money and Prices

In Chinese, money and prices are expressed as noun phrases. The units of money, dollars, dimes and cents are expressed by classifiers. The word for money 钱 sometimes occurs at the end of the noun phrase.

In informal or spoken contexts, the classifiers for money are as follow:

块           dollar

毛           dime (10 cents)

分           cent

分 represents 1 cent to 9 cents. Multiples of 10 cents are represented by 毛.

$3.00     三块钱

$103       一百零三块钱

$5.38     五块 三毛 八分（钱）

$48.96   四十八块九毛六分（钱）

$3.05     三块零五分（钱）

$90.07   九十块零七分（钱）

$63.50   六十三块五（毛）

$2.40     两块四（毛）

The number 2 in the phrase 2 dollars, 2 dimes or 2 cents may be either 二or 两

$3.42     三块四毛二分or 三块四毛两分（钱）

The noun 钱 ‘money’ need not occur in a money phrase. If it is absent, the classifier that immediately precedes it may also be absent. If the classifier is absent, the number 2 can only be represented as 二 and not as 两

$35.71   三十五块七毛一

$5.42     五块四毛二

Chinese also has the following FORMAL WRITTEN CLASSIFIER for dollars and dimes.

元           dollar

角           dime

分           cents

When 元and 角 are used, the noun 钱 does not occur in the money phrase. 角 tends to occur only when the denomination is smaller thant one 元

$3.00     三元

$0.60     六角

Fractions, Percentages, Decimals

Fractions, Percentages, Decimals

Fractions

To indicate fractions, use the pattern:

                X 分之 Y

                三分之一 （1/3）

Note that the ‘whole’ is expressed first and the ‘part of the whole’ is expressed second.

                1/4         四分之一

                2/5         五分之二

                9/10       十分之九

                7/9         九分之七`

                1/15       十五分之一

Percentages

Percentages are expressed as parts of 100. The expression used for percentages is the same as for fractions, but the whole is always 百，100.

                百分之number

Examples:

                10%        百分之十

                25%        百分之二十五

                37%        百分之三十七

                66%        百分之六十六

                99%        百分之九十九

Decimals

Decimals are restricted as a series of single digits and zeros after a decimal point. The decimal point is read as 点

Examples:

1.1               一点一

2.5          (二 or）两点五

14.56     十四点五六

30.808   三十点八零八

8.06        八点零六

0.35        零点三五

0.27        零点二七