Time in Chinese. Past tense in Chinese Clock in Chinese translation

逝者如斯夫，不舍昼夜
Time flows like water
without stopping day or night.
Confucius

Time in Chinese is a very simple topic, but it is fraught with many pitfalls.

What is the difference between the sentences "I have lunch at two o'clock" and "I have lunch at two o'clock" please?

The first sentence indicates a specific time, “a point on the clock” (not for nothing that one of the meanings of the word “hour (点)” is a point). The second sentence says, "I'm having lunch for two hours," and we don't care if it was in the morning, afternoon, or night.

Let's divide all the words denoting time into two groups with different rules of use: "when?" and how long?".

"When?" Dot on the clock.

The questions we will answer with this grammar and vocabulary are:

• 几点? - what time?
• 什么时候？- When?

Basic rule: talking about time, we always go from largest to smallest.

For example, a number is written in the format year-month-day (二零一六年六月三十号). The same rule applies when determining the time by the clock. First the hour 点 is indicated, then half 半, quarter 刻 or minute 分. Like in Russian, we say "三点半" instead of "thirty minutes" and "一刻" "三刻" instead of "15 minutes" and "45 minutes".

Do not forget about the beautiful word 差 (without). Sentences with it are built in the same way as in Russian: five minutes to six hours = 差五分六点.

What about the rest of the words denoting time? Year, month, week?

It is important to remember the use:

Remember which month is 上 (one of the meanings is “top”), and which month is 下 (bottom), a wall calendar will help.
Last month on top, next month on the bottom!

As for the days of the week, they are easy to form: add a number to the word "week" (星期一 Monday, 星期二 Tuesday). The only exception is "Sunday" (星期日／星期天).
"Last Monday" and "next Friday" are also simple: 上个星期一，下个星期五。

How to build sentences with words denoting time? Let's use the second reinforced concrete rule of the Chinese language: words with the meaning of time are placed only before the subject or after it! Moreover, if we put it before the subject, we will highlight it intonationally.

• 我晚上 去商店买水果。
• 下个星期六八点 我们去看电影，好吗?
• 下课以后 我要回家。

Yes, the last thing we will talk about in this topic is the use of the words 以后 (后) - "after" and 以前 (前) - "before". They turn the Russian sentence upside down. "After class" becomes 下课后 "end of class + after", and "before three hours" becomes 三点前 "three hours + before".

That's all! If you still feel insecure with words denoting a specific time, I advise you to use the scheme No. 7 of words of the second level of HSK

And we move on to words that help us answer the question "How long have you been doing something"

"How long?" Length of time.

The question we answer with the duration of time is:

多长时间? - How long?

The words for a specific time and duration of time are the same (except for replacing 点 with 小时 and adding a particle 钟 to minutes 三分钟 and quarters 一刻钟), but sentences are built according to fundamentally different grammar.

I advise you to recall sentence patterns with the second de (得) in order to draw parallels with already known material.

How are these two topics related?

"Length of Time" must come after the verb!

What should we do if after the predicate there is an addition (not “I read for two hours”, but “I read a book for two hours”)?

Option 1 is exactly the same as in the familiar grammar about 得: repetition of the verb! Note that 了 in such sentences is placed after the second predicate:

Option 2 is the easiest: if the object is a personal pronoun (I, he, she ...), then it can be left in place: 我们等了他半个小时。
Option 3 is also already familiar to us: if the supplement has a definition (not “I read a book”, but “I read an interesting book”), then it must be brought forward:

Well, the fourth option, my favorite: we put time between the predicate and the object, we turn time into a definition! Those. not "I study grammar for two hours", but, literally, "I study grammar for two hours"!

Special mention deserves negation in such sentences.

Compare:

• 我一个星期没学汉语。I didn't learn Chinese for a week.
• 我没有学习一个星期的汉语！I learned Chinese not for a week (but less).

To negate action (I didn't teach!), we bring time forward. To negate time (not a week!), we build a sentence according to the rules and add a negation.

That's all you need to know about time in Chinese!

In Chinese, the future translates as " 将来/jiānglái/future"

In Chinese, unlike English, there is no clear concrete construction for expressing the future tense. And it is impossible to immediately learn to express the future tense. In this post, I will tell you several ways to form a sentence in the future tense.

So far, I have identified five main ways to express the future tense:

1 way. Using modal verbs "要", "将" and "会"

Modal verb " 要 / yào / to desire, to want, to demand»

The future tense can be formed using modal verbs. About what modal verbs are, I will write in a separate publication. Modal verbs include the verb "要".

Often the verb "yào" is translated as " want", For example, in the sentence " I want to go for a walk».

But at some points he carries an intonation of need, for example, in the sentence " I need to go to the hospital.". In the last sentence, this is already a clearly expressed need.

Naturally, this need will be met in the future.

Examples:

Modal verb " 将 / jiang1 / intend to do something»

In terms of meaning, this modal verb has the same meaning as the modal verb "要", but is more often used in newspapers, texts and in official speech. When using this verb, it is assumed that the action will take place in the future.

Modal verb " 会 / hui4 / to be able to do something»

Verb " 会 " also belongs to the group of modals, used before verbs. The most commonly used meaning of this word is " be able to do something" or " have the ability to do something". For example, in the sentence " I speak Chinese» this particular verb will be used to express ability. In Chinese, the sentence would be "我会汉语。".

The modal verb "会" can also be used to express the future tense. And in such sentences it will be translated as “will”, “I will”, depending on the subject.

Examples:

2 way. Using adverbs "将要" and "将会"

In both dialects, the character "将" is present. I want to note that these adverbs are more often used in text and official speech.

adverb " 将要 / jiāngyào / in the future, is about to happen»

adverb " 将要" indicates that the action will take place in the near short term.

Examples:

The sale is about to start.	拍卖会将要开始了。	Pāimài huì jiāngyào kāishǐle.
The bus is about to leave.	公共汽车将要出发。	Gōnggòng qìchē jiāngyào chūfā.

3 way. Using future tense adjectives

« 明天", "下星期", "下次", "明年", "后年", "大后年" and "下个月"

This is the most common colloquial way of expressing sentences in the future tense. Only the adverb of time can be used in a sentence, and this will already indicate that the sentence refers to the future tense.

You can use the following circumstances:

Examples:

4 way. Construction use

« 块。。。了", "要。。。了", "快要。。。了", "就。。。了" and "就要。。。了".

块。。。了	Kuai...Le
要。。。了	Yao...Le
快要。。。了	Kuàiyao...Le
就。。。了	Jiù...Le
就要。。。了	Jiù yao...Le

Constructions are constructions of the future tense. They say that the action will be performed soon. There are practically no differences between them. Some of them are the most common in conversational practice.

I also want to note that sentences using these constructions have an exclamatory meaning.

Examples:

5 way. By doubling verbs .

Very often in Chinese verbs are duplicated. For example, "看看" or "看一看" ， "数数" or "数一数", "试试" or "试一试". If such duplications are used without the particle of the past tense "le", then the sentences have a shade of the future tense. But as soon as possible in the near future.

Examples:

In this article, I have told only the most pronounced moments of the future tense in Chinese. In fact, there are many nuances to the formation of the future tense in Chinese. We discuss all the nuances in detail in our form of lessons.

On this I say goodbye to you!

Time in Chinese, say what time it is, what time it is. As in Russian, in Chinese, first they say what time it is, then how many minutes.

What time is it now?

Time in Chinese is formed from the hour number from 1 to 12 (一 (yī) to 十二 (shíèr)), and the word for "hour" 点 (diǎn) . In Chinese, as in English, time is divided into "before noon" 上午 (shàngwŭ) "a.m." and "afternoon" 下午 (xiàwŭ) "p.m." You can also use substitute words, for example, instead of 下午 say 晚上 (wǎnshang, evening), but, of course, if this time is from 6 to 12 pm. That is, substitute words can be used within reason. You need to get used to it and never make a mistake, because the Chinese do not use the 24-hour system.

Structure

Examples

• 一 点 yī diǎn 1 hour.
• 九 点 jiǔ diǎn 9 o'clock.
• 十 点 shi diǎn 10 hours.
• 中午 十二 点 zhōngwǔ shí "èr diǎn 12 a.m.
• 上午 七 点 shàngwǔ qī diǎn 7 am (before noon).
• 明天 晚上 八 点 míngtiān wǎnshàng bā diǎn Tomorrow evening at 8 o'clock.
• 十 月 十 号 早上 五 点 shí yuè shí hao zǎoshang wǔ diǎn October 10, 5 o'clock in the morning.
• 每 天 下午 两 点 měitiān xiàwǔ liǎng diǎn Every day at 2 pm (after noon).
• 星期日 上午 十 点 xīngqīrì shàngwǔ shí diǎn Sunday at 10 am.

Half an hour and a quarter of an hour

The symbols for half an hour and a quarter of an hour come after 点 (diăn). "Half an hour" is translated as 半 (bàn), and "a quarter of an hour" as 刻 (kè).

Half an hour

Structure

Examples

• 八 点 半 bā diǎn bàn 8:30.
• 上午 五 点 半 shàngwǔ wǔ diǎn bàn 5:30 am.
• 十 月 十 号 早上 六 点 半 shí yuè shí hào zǎoshang liù diǎn bàn October 10, 6:30 am.
• 每 天 下午 两 点 半 měitiān xiàwǔ liǎng diǎn bàn Every day at 2:30 p.m.

Quarter of an hour.

In Chinese, the word "quarter hour" 刻 (kè) can only be used in two ways: 一 刻 (yīkè, quarter of an hour, 15 minutes) and 三 刻 (sānkè, three-quarters of an hour, 45 minutes). In the latter case, it is adequate to translate into Russian as "15 minutes to the next hour" or "forty-five minutes".

Structure

Examples

• 五 点 一 刻 wǔ diǎn yī ke 5:15.
• 九 点 一 刻 jiǔ diǎn yī ke 9 hours 15 minutes.
• 十 点 一 刻 shi diǎn yī ke Ten hours fifteen minutes.
• 三 点 一 刻 san diǎn yī ke Three fifteen.
• 三 点 三 刻 san diǎn san ke 3:45.
• 两 点 三 刻 liǎng diǎn san ke A quarter to three.
• 五 点 三 刻 wǔ diǎn san ke Five hours forty-five minutes.

minutes

Minutes are denoted as 分 (fēn) (full form 分钟 (fēn zhōng)). The way minutes are included in the adverb of time depends on what they are worth. after hours (seven hours ten minutes) or they are not enough before any hour (five minutes to two).

after an hour

minutes more hours come after the word "hour" 点 (diǎn), as well as half an hour and a quarter of an hour.

When it's more than ten minutes

Structure

Examples

• 一 点 三 十 分 yī diǎn sanshi fēn 1:30
• 两 点 十 分 liǎng diǎn shi fēn 2:10
• 八 点 二 十 五 分 bā diǎn Ershiwǔ fēn 8:25
• 五 点 四 十 分 wǔ diǎn sishi fēn 5:40
• 六 点 十 五 分 liu diǎn shíwǔ fēn 6:15
• 三 点 四 十 五 分 san diǎn sishíwǔ fēn 3:45
• 三 点 五 十 分 san diǎn wǔshi fēn 3:50

When less than ten minutes

Structure

In Chinese, when minutes are less than 10, the word "zero" 零 (líng) is often used between "hour" 点 (diǎn) and "minutes" 分 (fēn). For example, 2:07 could be translated as “两点 零 七分” (liǎng diǎn líng qī fēn). In this case, colloquial Chinese may omit the word “minutes” “分 (fēn)” at the end of the adverb of time. In writing, the word "zero" can be written as 零, as well as a great circle 〇 .

A 点零 B 分

Examples

• 七 点 零 九 分 qī diǎn ling jiǔ fēn 7:09
• 两 点 零 三 分 liǎng diǎn ling san fēn 2:03
• 八 点 零 四 bā diǎn ling sì 1:04
• 一 点 零 五 yī diǎn ling wǔ 8:05

Up to an hour

When we need to say that a few minutes are not enough to some hour, we put the word "not enough" 差 (chā) + minutes at the beginning of the adverb of time.

Well, when there is nowhere to rush. Happy, they say, do not watch the clock. But in our hectic life, everything is scheduled by the hour. And when traveling, it is especially important to know what time is it now so as not to miss the plane, for example. This article will help us correctly answer the questions "what time is it?", "what time ...?".

Please note that we will learn not so much Chinese words as Chinese phrases - this is more efficient.

Learning to talk about time in Chinese:

现在几点?	Xianzài jǐ diǎn?	What time is it now? (lit. now + what time + hour)
七点	qī diǎn	7 o'clock
七点零五(分)	qī diǎn líng wǔ (fēn)	7 hours 05 (minutes) (lit. seven + hour + 0 + 5)
七点十五(分)	qī diǎn shíwǔ (fēn)	7 hours 15 (minutes)
七点一刻	qī diǎn yī ke	7 and a quarter
七点半	qī diǎn bàn	7.30 or 7 and a half (lit. 7 + hour + half)
七点四十五(分)	qī diǎn sìshíwǔ (fēn)	7 hours 45 (minutes)
七点三刻	qī diǎn sān ke	7 and three quarters
七点五十五(分)	qī diǎn wǔshíwǔ (fēn)	7 hours 55 (minutes)
差五分八点	chà wǔ fēn bā diǎn	five to eight
九点左右	jiǔ diǎn zuǒyòu	around 9 o'clock
还没到九点	hái méi dao jiǔ diǎn	not yet 9 o'clock
快到九点	kuài dào jiǔ diǎn	soon it will be 9 o'clock
正好九点	zhenghǎo jiǔ diǎn	exactly 9 o'clock
才到九点	cái dao jiǔ diǎn	just struck 9 o'clock
时间	shijian	time, period of time
时候	shihou	time; during the time when
小时	xiaoshi	hour
分钟	fēnzhōng	minute
到时间了	dao shíjiānle	it's time, it's time

Sentence examples

• 现在三点十分 (Xiànzài sān diǎn shí fēn) - It's now 3:10.
• 你几点上班？(Nǐ jǐ diǎn shàngbān?) - What time do you have to go to work?
• 我八点上班 (Wǒ bā diǎn shàngbān). - I have to work at eight.
• 办公时间 (Bàngōng shíjiān). - Working hours.
• 营业时间 (Yíngyè shíjiān). - Opening hours (business, trade + time)

Location in the offer

Note! If the words describing time answer the question WHEN, then they are put front verb.

And if the indicated time implies a DURATION, then it is set after verb.

And this applies to the description of time in general: hours, days, times, etc.

Examples:

• 我六点回家 (Wǒ liù diǎn huí jiā). - I will return home at 6 o'clock (lit. I will return home at 6 o'clock). - WHEN.
• 我听了两个小时 (Wǒ tīngle liǎng gè xiǎoshí). - I listened for 2 hours. - DURATION.

Notice also how the last sentence changes when the object appears:

• 我听他听了两个小时 (Wǒ tīngle liǎng gè xiǎoshí). - I listened to it for 2 hours. - DURATION.

Hieroglyph 刻 - quarter of an hour

This is just one of the many meanings of this character. The key of the character 刂 - knife - gives the character also the meaning of cut. Below in the subheading "Interesting facts ..." you can find out the history of this hieroglyph. The knife in the hieroglyph is connected to 亥 (hài) - the twelfth cyclic sign and is closely related to the designation of time. For example, the second big hour of the night (from 9 to 11 pm) is called 亥时 - Pig. The same hieroglyph denotes the year of the Pig.

Hieroglyph 时 - hour

In the traditional spelling of this character - 時 - a connection is visible in the concept of the ancient Chinese of time and agriculture. The key 日 (rì) - the sun - is connected to the earth 土 and the measure of length 寸. In ancient times, when everything depended on the harvest, time meant not only money, but also life. Now 时 means an ordinary hour, but according to the ancient Chinese time reckoning, 时 was twice as long.

Interesting facts about time in ancient and modern China

• Although the territory of China is located on four time zones, nevertheless, a single time is set throughout the country, coinciding with Beijing - 4 hours difference from Moscow.
• In ancient China, the day was divided not into 24 (小时 - xiăoshí - small hour), but into 12 time periods - 时辰 (shíchen), or big hours.
• Five night periods were called gen (更 - gēng), and lasted from 7 pm to 5 am.
• Another division of the day used in ancient China is the division into 100 periods 刻 (kè), which was measured by water clocks. Each 刻 was divided into 60 分 (fēn). As a result, in the ancient Chinese day there were 12 shichen, 100 ke and 6000 fen.
• The modern value of 刻, equal to 15 minutes, or 1/96 of a day, was acquired thanks to the Jesuits, who introduced Western time reckoning in China in the 17th century.
• The ancient Chinese measured time with water and sundials. The water clock was a rounded bowl with a hole in the bottom, floating in a vat of water and gradually filling up. And one Chinese emperor in the 13th century made himself a sundial 40 steps high. An amazing watch for astronomical observations was created by the Chinese master Su Song. This is a whole 12-meter tower of a water-driven clock, an armillary sphere and a celestial globe.

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