Chinese Time Vocabulary — Words for Time & Dates
Time vocabulary is one of the most satisfying places to begin Chinese, because the system is so logical — days, months and dates are built from numbers in a tidy, predictable way. This page gathers Chinese time words: 时间 (time), 今天 (today), 年 (year), 小时 (hour), each with its English meaning, its pinyin, and a button to hear it. Two essentials for English speakers. First, Chinese is written in characters rather than an alphabet, but every word here also comes with pinyin — the romanised spelling — so you can read it from day one while you learn the characters gradually. Second, Mandarin is tonal: the same syllable said with a different pitch is a different word, and tones simply can't be captured by spelling. That makes the audio indispensable — tap any 🔊 and a native voice gives you the exact tone. Read the table to connect character, pinyin and meaning, then take the words into the game below, where hearing and matching them trains your ear to the tones far better than silent reading.
Key words explained
- time 时间 We do not have much time before the train leaves.
- day 天 It was a long but rewarding day.
- night 夜晚 The stars were bright on a clear night.
- morning 早晨 She goes for a run every morning.
- afternoon 下午 We met for tea in the afternoon.
- evening 傍晚 The family eats together in the evening.
- week 周 I will finish the project by the end of the week.
- month 月 His birthday is early next month.
All 90 Chinese time words
| English | Pronunciation | Chinese | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| time | /taɪm/ | 时间 | |
| day | /deɪ/ | 天 | |
| night | /naɪt/ | 夜晚 | |
| morning | /ˈmɔːrnɪŋ/ | 早晨 | |
| afternoon | /ˌæftərˈnuːn/ | 下午 | |
| evening | /ˈiːvnɪŋ/ | 傍晚 | |
| week | /wiːk/ | 周 | |
| month | /mʌnθ/ | 月 | |
| year | /jɪr/ | 年 | |
| hour | /aʊər/ | 小时 | |
| minute | /ˈmɪnɪt/ | 分钟 | |
| second | /ˈsɛkənd/ | 秒 | |
| today | /təˈdeɪ/ | 今天 | |
| tomorrow | /təˈmɔːroʊ/ | 明天 | |
| yesterday | /ˈjɛstərdeɪ/ | 昨天 | |
| now | /naʊ/ | 现在 | |
| date | /deɪt/ | 日期 | |
| red | /rɛd/ | 红色 | |
| blue | /bluː/ | 蓝色 | |
| green | /ɡriːn/ | 绿色 | |
| yellow | /ˈjɛloʊ/ | 黄色 | |
| black | /blæk/ | 黑色 | |
| white | /waɪt/ | 白色 | |
| orange | /ˈɔːrɪndʒ/ | 橙色 | |
| pink | /pɪŋk/ | 粉色 | |
| purple | /ˈpɜːrpəl/ | 紫色 | |
| brown | /braʊn/ | 棕色 | |
| grey | /ɡreɪ/ | 灰色 | |
| number | /ˈnʌmbər/ | 数字 | |
| half | /hæf/ | 一半 | |
| Monday | /ˈmʌndeɪ/ | 星期一 | |
| Tuesday | /ˈtuːzdeɪ/ | 星期二 | |
| Wednesday | /ˈwɛnzdeɪ/ | 星期三 | |
| Thursday | /ˈθɜːrzdeɪ/ | 星期四 | |
| Friday | /ˈfraɪdeɪ/ | 星期五 | |
| Saturday | /ˈsætərdeɪ/ | 星期六 | |
| Sunday | /ˈsʌndeɪ/ | 星期日 | |
| January | /ˈdʒænjuɛri/ | 一月 | |
| February | /ˈfɛbruɛri/ | 二月 | |
| March | /mɑːrtʃ/ | 三月 | |
| April | /ˈeɪprəl/ | 四月 | |
| May | /meɪ/ | 五月 | |
| June | /dʒuːn/ | 六月 | |
| July | /dʒuˈlaɪ/ | 七月 | |
| August | /ˈɔːɡəst/ | 八月 | |
| September | /sɛpˈtɛmbər/ | 九月 | |
| October | /ɑːkˈtoʊbər/ | 十月 | |
| November | /noʊˈvɛmbər/ | 十一月 | |
| December | /dɪˈsɛmbər/ | 十二月 | |
| past | /pæst/ | 过去 | |
| present | /ˈprɛzənt/ | 现在 | |
| future | /ˈfjuːtʃər/ | 未来 | |
| early | /ˈɜːrli/ | 早 | |
| late | /leɪt/ | 晚 | |
| soon | /suːn/ | 很快 | |
| always | /ˈɔːlweɪz/ | 总是 | |
| never | /ˈnɛvər/ | 从不 | |
| sometimes | /ˈsʌmtaɪmz/ | 有时 | |
| often | /ˈɔːfən/ | 经常 | |
| weekend | /ˈwiːkɛnd/ | 周末 | |
| century | /ˈsɛntʃəri/ | 世纪 | |
| decade | /ˈdɛkeɪd/ | 十年 | |
| midnight | /ˈmɪdnaɪt/ | 午夜 | |
| noon | /nuːn/ | 正午 | |
| dawn | /dɔːn/ | 黎明 | |
| dusk | /dʌsk/ | 黄昏 | |
| deadline | /ˈdɛdlaɪn/ | 截止日期 | |
| schedule | /ˈskɛdʒuːl/ | 日程 | |
| appointment | /əˈpɔɪntmənt/ | 预约 | |
| holiday | /ˈhɑːlɪdeɪ/ | 假期 | |
| birthday | /ˈbɜːrθdeɪ/ | 生日 | |
| anniversary | /ˌænɪˈvɜːrsəri/ | 周年纪念 | |
| ago | /əˈɡoʊ/ | 以前 | |
| recently | /ˈriːsəntli/ | 最近 | |
| immediately | /ɪˈmiːdiətli/ | 立刻 | |
| gradually | /ˈɡrædʒuəli/ | 逐渐 | |
| light | /laɪt/ | 浅色 | |
| dark | /dɑːrk/ | 深色 | |
| bright | /braɪt/ | 明亮 | |
| pale | /peɪl/ | 苍白 | |
| golden | /ˈɡoʊldən/ | 金色 | |
| silver | /ˈsɪlvər/ | 银色 | |
| twice | /twaɪs/ | 两次 | |
| once | /wʌns/ | 一次 | |
| thousand | /ˈθaʊzənd/ | 千 | |
| million | /ˈmɪljən/ | 百万 | |
| percent | /pərˈsɛnt/ | 百分比 | |
| average | /ˈævərɪdʒ/ | 平均 | |
| total | /ˈtoʊtəl/ | 总计 | |
| amount | /əˈmaʊnt/ | 数量 |
Tired of memorizing word lists? Reading a table won't make these stick. Speakka turns vocabulary into a falling-words game — catch the word before it lands and the meaning sticks because you played it. A new way to learn vocabulary that doesn't feel like studying.
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