Chinese For Dummies (28 page)

liǎng diǎn
yí kè
两点一刻
(
兩點一刻
)
(lyahng-dyan ee kuh) (
2:15
)

qī diǎn
sān kè
七点三刻
(
七點三刻
)
(chee-dyan sahn kuh) (
7:45
)

sì diǎn
yí kè
四点一刻
(
四點一刻
)
(suh-dyan ee kuh) (
4:15
)

wǔ diǎn
sān kè
五点三刻
(
五點三刻
)
(woo-dyan sahn kuh) (
5:45
)

When talking about time, you may prefer to indicate a certain number of ­minutes before or after a particular hour. To do so, you use either
yǐqián
以前
(ee-chyan) (
before
) or
yǐhòu
以后
(
以後
) (ee-ho) (
after
) along with the time (though you can also use it with days and months, concepts that I cover later in the chapter). Here are a couple of examples:

qīngzǎo 4-diǎn bàn yǐhòu
清早四点半以后
(
清早四點半以後
) (cheeng-dzaow suh-dyan bahn ee-ho) (
after 4:30 a.m.
)

xiàwǔ 3-diǎn zhōng yǐqián
下午三点钟以前
(
下午三點鐘以前
) (shyah-woo sahn-dyan joong ee-chyan) (
before 3 p.m.
)

Of course, you have other ways to indicate time in Chinese. On the hour, half hour, and quarter of an hour aren't the only parts of time that exist, after all. For example, instead of saying
qī diǎn wǔshí fēn
七点五十分
(
七點五十分
) (chee dyan woo-shir fun) (
7:50
), you can say
bā diǎn chà shí fēn
八点差十分
(
八點差十分
) (bah dyan chah shir fun) (
10 minutes to 8
[Literally:
8:00 minus 10 minutes
]).
Chà
å·®
(chah) means
to lack.
Unlike
fēn
分
(fun) (
minute
),
kè
刻
(kuh) (
quarter of an hour
), and
bàn
半
(bahn) (
half
), you can use
chà
either before or after
diǎn
点
(
點
)
(dyan) (
hour
).

Here are some other examples of alternative ways to indicate the time:

chà shí fēn wǔ diǎn
差十分五点
(
差十分五點
)
(chah shir fun woo dyan) (
10 minutes to 5:00
)

wǔ diǎn chà shí fēn
五点差十分
(
五點差十分
)
(woo dyan chah shir fun) (
10 minutes to 5:00
)

sì diǎn wǔshí fēn
四点五十分
(
四點五十分
)
(suh dyan woo-shir fun) (
4:50
)

chà yí kè qī diǎn
差一刻七点
(
差一刻七點
) (chah ee kuh chee dyan) (
a quarter to 7:00
)

qī diǎn chà yí kè
七点差一刻
(
七點差一刻
)
(chee dyan chah ee kuh) (
a quarter to 7:00
)

liù diǎn sān kè
六点三刻
(
六點三刻
)
(lyo dyan sahn kuh) (
6:45
)

liù diǎn sìshíwǔ fēn
六点四十五分
(
六點四時五分
)
(lyo dyan suh-shir-woo fun) (
6:45
)

Talkin' the Talk

Xiǎo Huá and Chén Míng discuss their plans to see a movie. (Track 6)

Xiǎo Huá:

Wǒmen jīntiān wǎnshàng qù kàn diànyǐng hǎo bùhǎo?

waw-men jin-tyan wahn-shahng chyew kahn dyan-yeeng how boo-how?

Let's go see a movie tonight, okay?

Chén Míng:

Bùxíng. Wǒde fùmǔ jīntiān wǎnshàng yídìng yào wǒ gēn tāmen yìqǐ chī wǎnfàn.

boo-sheeng. waw-duh foo-moo jin-tyan wahn-shahng ee-deeng yaow waw gun tah-men ee-chee chir wahn-fahn.

No can do. My parents are adamant that I have dinner with them tonight.

Xiǎo Huá:

Nǐmen jǐdiǎn zhōng chīfàn?

nee-men jee-dyan joong chir-fahn?

What time do you eat?

Chén Míng:

Píngcháng wǒmen liùdiǎn zhōng zuǒyòu chīfàn.

peeng-chahng waw-men lyo-dyan joong dzwaw yo chir-fahn.

We usually eat around 6:00.

Xiǎo Huá:

Hǎo ba. Nǐ chīfàn yǐhòu wǒmen qù kàn yíbù jiǔdiǎn zhōng yǐqián de piānzi, hǎo bùhǎo?

how-bah. nee chir-fahn ee-ho waw-men chyew kahn ee-boo jyo-dyan joong ee-chyan duh pyan-dzuh, how boo-how?

Okay. How about we see a movie that starts before 9:00 after you're finished eating?

Chén Míng:

Hěn hǎo. Yìhuǐr jiàn.

hun how. ee-hwar jyan.

Okay. See you later.

Save the Date: Using the Calendar and Stating Dates

So what day is
jīntiān
今天
(jin-tyan) (
today
)? Could it be
xīngqīliù
星期六
(sheeng-chee-lyo) (
Saturday
), when you can sleep late and go see a movie in the evening with friends? Or is it
xīngqīyī
星期一
(sheeng-chee-ee) (
Monday
), when you have to be at work by 9:00 a.m. to prepare for a 10:00 a.m. meeting? Or maybe it's
xīngqīwǔ
星期五
(sheeng-chee-woo) (
Friday
), and you already have two tickets for the symphony that begins at 8:00 p.m. In the following sections, I give you the words you need to talk about days and months and put them together into specific dates. I also give you the lowdown on some major Chinese holidays.

Dealing with days of the week

You may not be a big fan of going to work Monday to Friday, but when the
zhōumò
周末
(
週末
) (joe-maw) (
weekend
) comes, you have two days of freedom and fun. Before you know it, though, Monday
comes
again. Chinese people recognize seven days in the week just as Americans do, and the Chinese week begins on Monday and ends on
xīngqītiān
星期天
(sheeng-chee-tyan) (
Sunday
).
Table 5-5
spells out the days of the week.

Table 5-5 Days of the Week

If you're talking about
zhèige xīngqī
这个星期
(
這個星期
) (jay-guh sheeng-chee) (
this week
) in Chinese, you're talking about any time between this past Monday through this coming Sunday. Anything earlier is considered
shàngge xīngqī
上个星期
(
上個星期
) (shahng-guh sheeng-chee) (
last week
). Any day after this coming Sunday is automatically part of
xiàge xīngqī
下个星期
(
下個星期
) (shyah-guh sheeng-chee) (
next week
) at the earliest. Here a few more week-related terms:

hòutiān
后天
(
後天
) (ho-tyan) (
the day after tomorrow
)

míngtiān
明天
(meeng-tyan) (
tomorrow
)