wǒmen bā diǎn kāishǐ kāihuì.

We start the meeting at eight o’clock.

Breakdown of wǒmen bā diǎn kāishǐ kāihuì.

• 我们wǒmen: we
• 八bā: eight
• 点diǎn: o'clock classifier
• 开会kāihuì: to have a meeting

Questions & Answers about wǒmen bā diǎn kāishǐ kāihuì.

Why is there no word for “at” before 八点? In English we say “at eight.”

Chinese usually doesn’t use a separate preposition like “at” for clock times.

• 我们八点开始开会。
  Literally: We – eight o’clock – start – hold meeting.

Time expressions (like 八点, 明天, 上午) are simply placed in the sentence without at / on / in. The time phrase itself functions as an adverbial.

You can add 在 before the time in some contexts, but it’s not needed here and would usually sound a bit heavier or more formal:

• 我们在八点开始开会。 – acceptable, but plain 我们八点开始开会 is more natural.

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Where does the time expression 八点 usually go in a Chinese sentence? Could it go at the beginning or end instead?