Time Expressions in Chinese

Overview

Time expressions in Chinese follow a strict positional rule: they come BEFORE the verb, typically after the subject. This contrasts with English, where time can appear at the beginning or end of a sentence. Chinese time words include days (今天, 明天, 昨天), clock time (三点, 八点半), and general time periods (早上, 晚上).

At the CEFR A1 level, time expressions are critical because Chinese has no verb tense. Instead of changing the verb form to indicate past, present, or future, Chinese relies on time words and context. Adding 昨天 (yesterday) makes a sentence past; adding 明天 (tomorrow) makes it future.

The time system is also highly logical: clock time uses 点 (diǎn, o'clock) for hours and 分 (fēn, minutes), with 半 (bàn, half) for half past. Days of the week use 星期 (xīngqī) plus a number.

How It Works

Position in sentence

Pattern	Example	Meaning
Subject + Time + Verb	我明天去。	I go tomorrow.
Time + Subject + Verb	明天我去。	Tomorrow I go.

Common time words

Chinese	Pinyin	English
今天	jīntiān	today
明天	míngtiān	tomorrow
昨天	zuótiān	yesterday
现在	xiànzài	now
早上	zǎoshang	morning
中午	zhōngwǔ	noon
下午	xiàwǔ	afternoon
晚上	wǎnshang	evening

Clock time

Chinese	Pinyin	English
一点	yī diǎn	1 o'clock
三点半	sān diǎn bàn	3:30
八点十五分	bā diǎn shíwǔ fēn	8:15
几点？	jǐ diǎn?	What time?

Days of the week

星期 + number (1-6), 星期天/日 for Sunday:

Chinese	Pinyin	Day
星期一	xīngqī yī	Monday
星期二	xīngqī èr	Tuesday
星期天/日	xīngqī tiān/rì	Sunday

Examples in Context

Chinese	Pinyin	English	Note
今天我很忙。	Jīntiān wǒ hěn máng.	Today I am very busy.	time first
明天见！	Míngtiān jiàn!	See you tomorrow!	common farewell
现在几点？	Xiànzài jǐ diǎn?	What time is it now?	asking time
我八点起床。	Wǒ bā diǎn qǐ chuáng.	I get up at 8.	clock time
昨天下雨了。	Zuótiān xià yǔ le.	It rained yesterday.	past with time word
我们下午三点见。	Wǒmen xiàwǔ sān diǎn jiàn.	Let's meet at 3 PM.	specific time
星期六你有空吗？	Xīngqīliù nǐ yǒu kòng ma?	Are you free Saturday?	day of week
早上好！	Zǎoshang hǎo!	Good morning!	greeting
我每天早上跑步。	Wǒ měi tiān zǎoshang pǎo bù.	I run every morning.	frequency
晚上我在家。	Wǎnshang wǒ zài jiā.	I'm at home in the evening.	time period

Common Mistakes

Placing time after the verb

• Wrong: 我去明天。(I go tomorrow.)
• Right: 我明天去。(I tomorrow go.)
• Why: Time expressions must precede the verb in Chinese, not follow it as in English.

Forgetting that time words replace tense

• Wrong: Looking for a past tense verb form to say "I went"
• Right: Add a time word: 我昨天去了。(I went yesterday.)
• Why: Chinese verbs do not conjugate for tense. Time words and context indicate when something happens.

Ordering time from small to big

• Wrong: 三点下午星期一 (3 PM Monday)
• Right: 星期一下午三点 (Monday afternoon 3 o'clock)
• Why: Chinese follows big-to-small ordering: year > month > day > time of day > hour > minute.

Practice Tips

• Describe your daily routine using time expressions: 我七点起床, 八点吃早饭, 九点上课. This practices both time words and the correct position before verbs.
• Practice asking and answering 几点 (what time) questions using real-world contexts like meeting times and schedules.
• Remember the big-to-small principle for dates and times, which is the opposite of common English conventions.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Numbers 1-100 -- numbers are needed for clock time and dates
• Next steps: Duration and Frequency -- learn to express how long and how often