Telling the time in Chinese runs on four small words. 点 (diǎn) — literally "dot / point" — marks the hour, working just like English "o'clock": 三点 is "three o'clock." 分 (fēn) marks the minutes, 刻 (kè) is a quarter-hour (15 minutes), and 半 (bàn) is half past. Stack them big-to-small — hour before minutes — and you can say any time on the clock. The system is regular and quick to learn; the one thing that catches every beginner is that "two o'clock" is 两点 (liǎng diǎn), not 二点 — a live instance of the 二 vs 两 split. Master that single irregularity and the rest is arithmetic.
The hour: 点, and the 两点 trap
The hour is just the number 1–12 plus 点. To ask the time, use 几点 (jǐ diǎn, "how many o'clock") — see 几 vs 多少 for why it's 几 here.
现在几点？
xiànzài jǐ diǎn
What time is it now?
我们八点在门口见。
wǒmen bā diǎn zài ménkǒu jiàn
Let's meet at the entrance at eight.
The exception is two o'clock. Because the clock is counting two hours' worth, "two" here behaves like a count of things and takes 两, not 二: 两点 (liǎng diǎn), never 二点.
现在两点了，我们走吧。
xiànzài liǎng diǎn le, wǒmen zǒu ba
It's two o'clock now — let's go.
But watch the boundary carefully: this only affects the standalone hour "2." Twelve o'clock is 十二点 (shí'èr diǎn) — the 二 sits inside the number 12 as a plain digit, so it stays 二. And minutes always use 二 too: 两点二十分 (2:20) pairs 两 in the hour with 二 in the minutes. One clock, both words.
十二点整，钟敲了十二下。
shí'èr diǎn zhěng, zhōng qiāo le shí'èr xià
At twelve o'clock sharp, the clock struck twelve.
Minutes: 分, with 零 for single digits
Minutes are the number plus 分. In casual speech the 分 is often dropped when the minute count is a round, unambiguous number: 三点二十 and 三点二十分 both mean 3:20. But when the minutes are under ten, you must insert 零 (líng, "zero") to fill the tens place — otherwise the number is unclear. So 2:05 is 两点零五分 (liǎng diǎn líng wǔ fēn), and here the 分 is usually kept.
火车两点零五分到站。
huǒchē liǎng diǎn líng wǔ fēn dào zhàn
The train reaches the station at 2:05.
现在三点二十，还早。
xiànzài sān diǎn èrshí, hái zǎo
It's 3:20 now — still early.
他每天六点四十五起床。
tā měitiān liù diǎn sìshíwǔ qǐchuáng
He gets up at 6:45 every day.
刻 (quarters) and 半 (half)
For the tidy fractions of the hour, Chinese prefers dedicated words over the raw minute count:
- 一刻 (yí kè) = a quarter = 15 minutes → 三点一刻 = 3:15
- 半 (bàn) = half = 30 minutes → 三点半 = 3:30
- 三刻 (sān kè) = three quarters = 45 minutes → 三点三刻 = 3:45
Note 一刻 takes tone sandhi to yí kè (刻 is a fourth-tone syllable). There is no 两刻 for 30 minutes — the half hour is always 半, covered in depth on the 半 page. And 整 (zhěng, "exactly / sharp") tags a time as on the dot: 九点整 = 9:00 sharp.
火车八点一刻开。
huǒchē bā diǎn yí kè kāi
The train leaves at a quarter past eight (8:15).
现在三点半，会议该结束了。
xiànzài sān diǎn bàn, huìyì gāi jiéshù le
It's half past three — the meeting should be wrapping up.
会议九点整开始，请别迟到。
huìyì jiǔ diǎn zhěng kāishǐ, qǐng bié chídào
The meeting starts at nine sharp — please don't be late.
差: "to / before" the hour
For times just short of the hour, Chinese uses 差 (chà, "lacking, short of") — the counterpart of English "to" in "ten to six." The structure is 差 + [amount] + [hour]点: literally "lacking [amount] till [hour] o'clock." So 差五分十点 is 9:55, and 差一刻八点 is 7:45.
差五分十点，快点儿吧！
chà wǔ fēn shí diǎn, kuài diǎnr ba
It's five to ten — hurry up!
差一刻七点我就得出门。
chà yí kè qī diǎn wǒ jiù děi chūmén
I have to head out at a quarter to seven (6:45).
You'll also hear the same time expressed straightforwardly with 分 — 九点五十五(分) for 9:55 — which is more common in writing and schedules; 差 is a compact, conversational alternative. Both are correct.
Common Mistakes
1. Saying 二点 for two o'clock. The clock counts hours, so the standalone hour "2" is 两点.
❌ 我们二点见。
Incorrect — 'two o'clock' is 两点; 二点 is not said.
✅ 我们两点见。
wǒmen liǎng diǎn jiàn
Let's meet at two o'clock.
2. Using 两 for the minutes or for 12 o'clock. Only the bare hour "2" is 两; minutes and the "2" inside 12 stay 二.
❌ 两点两十分
Incorrect — the minutes take 二: it's 两点二十分 (2:20).
✅ 两点二十分
liǎng diǎn èrshí fēn
2:20 — 两 for the hour, 二 for the minutes.
3. Dropping 零 for single-digit minutes. Under ten minutes past, you must voice the 零.
❌ 三点五分
Ambiguous / incorrect for 3:05 — single-digit minutes need the zero: 三点零五分.
✅ 三点零五分
sān diǎn líng wǔ fēn
3:05.
4. Getting the 差 word order backwards. The amount lacking comes first, then the target hour: 差 + amount + 点.
❌ 八点差五分
Marginal / reversed — the standard order for 7:55 is 差五分八点.
✅ 差五分八点
chà wǔ fēn bā diǎn
five to eight (7:55).
Key Takeaways
- 点 = the hour ("o'clock"), 分 = minutes, 刻 = a quarter-hour, 半 = half past. Build them big-to-small: hour, then minutes.
- Two o'clock is 两点, never 二点 — but 12:00 is 十二点 and all minutes use 二 (两点二十分).
- Insert 零 for minutes under ten: 三点零五分 = 3:05.
- 一刻 = 15 min, 三刻 = 45 min, 半 = 30 min; 整 marks a time on the dot (九点整).
- 差 + amount + 点 = "to the hour": 差五分十点 = 9:55, 差一刻八点 = 7:45.
- Ask the time with 几点: 现在几点?
Now practice Chinese
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Start learning Chinese→Related Topics
- 二 vs 两HSK 1 — Chinese has two words for 'two': 二 (èr) is the counting digit — used in ordinals, tens, years and decimals — while 两 (liǎng) means 'two of something' before a measure word and before 千/万/亿.
- 半 (Half)HSK 1 — 半 (bàn) is 'half' as a quantity — it acts like a number and takes a measure word (半个, 半年). Its noun cousin 一半 (yíbàn) means 'half of it, 50%' and stands alone. Getting the two apart is the whole game.
- 上午 / 下午 / 晚上 (Times of Day)HSK 1 — Chinese names the part of the day BEFORE the clock time: 下午三点 is '3 p.m.', 晚上八点 is '8 p.m.'. The period word (早上, 上午, 中午, 下午, 晚上, 凌晨…) replaces English AM/PM and always comes first.
- 几 vs 多少HSK 1 — 几 (jǐ) and 多少 (duōshao) both ask 'how many/much', but 几 expects a small count and needs a measure word (几个人), while 多少 covers any or unknown quantity and usually drops it (多少钱).