Mandarin doesn't have one word for "when" — it has a small family, and you choose by grain. 什么时候 asks the general occasion; 几点 asks the exact clock time; 几号 and 星期几 ask the date and the weekday; 多久 and 多长时间 ask duration. Underlying all of them is one word-order rule that trips up every English speaker: a "time-when" expression comes before the verb, in the same pre-verbal slot the answer (明天, 三点) will occupy — not tacked onto the end as in "when are you coming?"
什么时候 vs 几点: occasion vs clock time
什么时候 (shénme shíhou, literally "what time-moment") is the open-ended "when" — it invites any time answer, from 明天 ("tomorrow") to 三点 ("three o'clock") to 我下班以后 ("after I get off work"). 几点 (jǐ diǎn, literally "how many o'clock") narrows to the clock: it wants an hour. It uses 几 (jǐ), the "how many" word for small counted sets, because hours on a clock are a small, countable range. Ask 几点 when you need the precise time; ask 什么时候 when any grain of answer will do.
你什么时候来？
nǐ shénme shíhou lái?
When are you coming? (informal) — 什么时候 before the verb 来; the answer '明天 / 晚上' fills the same slot.
你几点起床？
nǐ jǐ diǎn qǐchuáng?
What time do you get up? (informal) — 几点 asks for a clock hour, before the verb 起床.
现在几点？
xiànzài jǐ diǎn?
What time is it now? (neutral) — here 几点 is the predicate; no verb needed.
电影几点开始？
diànyǐng jǐ diǎn kāishǐ?
What time does the movie start? (neutral) — 几点 in the pre-verbal time slot before 开始.
Dates and days: 几号 and 星期几
For a calendar date, use 几号 (jǐ hào, "which number") — the day of the month is just a number, so 几 counts it. For the weekday, use 星期几 (xīngqī jǐ, literally "week-which") — Monday to Saturday in Chinese are 星期一 through 星期六, so asking "week-which?" asks which numbered weekday it is. (号 is the spoken form of the date; 日 is its written equivalent — 几号 in speech, 几日 in formal writing.)
今天几号？
jīntiān jǐ hào?
What's the date today? (informal) — 几号 asks the day of the month.
你的生日是几月几号？
nǐ de shēngrì shì jǐ yuè jǐ hào?
What's the date of your birthday? (neutral) — 几月几号 pairs 'which month' with 'which day'.
今天星期几？
jīntiān xīngqī jǐ?
What day of the week is it today? (informal) — 星期几 asks which numbered weekday.
How long: 多久 and 多长时间
For duration, use 多久 (duō jiǔ) or the fuller 多长时间 (duō cháng shíjiān, "how long a time") — they're synonyms. Note a real difference from the words above: a point-in-time question (什么时候, 几点) sits before the verb, but a duration answer, and the 多久 that asks for it, typically comes after the verb as a complement. So "how long have you studied Chinese?" is 你学中文学了多久？ or the compact 你学中文多久了？ — 多久 trailing the verb phrase, not leading it.
你学中文多久了？
nǐ xué Zhōngwén duō jiǔ le?
How long have you been studying Chinese? (informal) — 多久 as a duration complement, after the verb phrase.
从这儿到机场要多长时间？
cóng zhèr dào jīchǎng yào duō cháng shíjiān?
How long does it take from here to the airport? (neutral) — 多长时间 asks the length of time needed.
| Question word | Pinyin | Asks for | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 什么时候 | shénme shíhou | the occasion (when) | before the verb |
| 几点 | jǐ diǎn | the clock hour | before the verb |
| 几号 | jǐ hào | the date (day of month) | before the verb |
| 星期几 | xīngqī jǐ | the weekday | before the verb |
| 多久 / 多长时间 | duō jiǔ / duō cháng shíjiān | duration (how long) | after the verb |
Common Mistakes
1. Putting the time-when word at the end. English tacks "when" onto the end; Mandarin puts it before the verb.
❌ 你来什么时候？
Incorrect — the time word goes before the verb: 你什么时候来？
✅ 你什么时候来？
nǐ shénme shíhou lái?
When are you coming? — 什么时候 before 来.
2. Using 什么时候 when you need the clock. For a precise hour, ask 几点, not the open-ended 什么时候.
❌ 你什么时候起床？（想知道几点）
Under-specific — if you want the exact hour, ask 几点起床.
✅ 你几点起床？
nǐ jǐ diǎn qǐchuáng?
What time do you get up? — 几点 asks for the clock hour.
3. Saying 什么点 for 'what time'. The clock takes 几 (a small counted set), not 什么.
❌ 现在什么点？
Incorrect — clock hours are counted, so it's 几点, not 什么点.
✅ 现在几点？
xiànzài jǐ diǎn?
What time is it now? — 几点 with 几.
4. Fronting 多久 like a point-in-time word. Duration goes after the verb, not before it.
❌ 你多久学中文了？
Wrong slot / meaning — pre-verbal 多久 reads as 'how often'; for 'how long' put it after: 学中文多久了.
✅ 你学中文多久了？
nǐ xué Zhōngwén duō jiǔ le?
How long have you been studying Chinese? — 多久 after the verb phrase.
Key Takeaways
- 什么时候 = the occasion (any grain of answer); 几点 = the exact clock hour (uses 几, the counted "how many").
- 几号 asks the date (day of month, spoken 号 / written 日); 星期几 asks the weekday.
- 多久 / 多长时间 ask duration and are interchangeable.
- Word order splits by type: point-in-time words go before the verb; duration words go after it.
- Never front a time-when word English-style, and never use 什么 where hours are counted (几点, not ❌什么点).
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- Question Words Stay In Place (In Situ)HSK 1 — The single most important rule for Chinese wh-questions: the question word sits exactly where the answer will sit. No fronting, no do-support, no reordering — 你去哪儿？ not ❌哪儿你去？ And because the question word already asks, you never add 吗.
- Telling Time (点 / 分 / 刻 / 半)HSK 1 — Clock time is built from 点 (the hour), 分 (minutes), 刻 (quarter-hours), and 半 (half): 三点半 is 3:30, 三点一刻 is 3:15, 差五分八点 is 7:55. Watch the one trap — 'two o'clock' is 两点, not 二点.
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