Level 1 · Beginner
Telling the time: 点, 半, 分, 刻
Number + 点 (+ 半 / Number + 分 / 一刻) — 几点？ · Traditional: Number + 點 (+ 半 / Number + 分 / 一刻) — 幾點？
Clock time is number + 点 "o'clock": 三点 "three o'clock", 十二点 "twelve". Add minutes with 分: 九点十分 "9:10". Half past is 半: 三点半 "3:30", and a quarter hour is 一刻: 两点一刻 "2:15". To ask the time, say 几点？ — 现在几点？ "what time is it?"
Two things trip people up. Two o'clock is 两点, never 二点. And like any time word, the clock time goes before the verb: 我七点起床 "I get up at seven", not 我起床七点.
Examples
现在几点？
現在幾點？
xiàn zài jǐ diǎn
What time is it now?
现在三点半。
現在三點半。
xiàn zài sān diǎn bàn
It's three thirty.
我七点十分起床。
我七點十分起床。
wǒ qī diǎn shí fēn qǐ chuáng
I get up at 7:10.
我们两点一刻见。
我們兩點一刻見。
wǒ men liǎng diǎn yī kè jiàn
Let's meet at a quarter past two.
Common mistakes
✗ 现在二点。
✓ 现在两点。
Two o'clock is always 两点.
✗ 我起床七点。
✓ 我七点起床。
The clock time goes before the verb, not after it.
Related grammar points
Practice this pattern in graded stories like Ten O'Clock, Nine, Study Time inside the Literate Chinese app.
