Unit 10: What Time Is It Now?

Part I: Listen and Learn

1. 

L- Xi1nsh5ng z4i Ji1 Zh!u D4xu6 ni4n sh%.
Mr. Li is studying in the Univ. of California.
§õ¥ý¥Í¦b¥[¦{¤j¾Ç°á®Ñ¡C

T1 m7iti1n sh4ngw& y#u k8.
He has class in the morning every day.
¥L¨C¤Ñ¤W¤È¦³½Ò¡C

T1 ji& di3n q* xu6xi4o.
He goes to school at 9 o'clock.
¥L¤EÂI¥h¾Ç®Õ¡C

Zh!ngw& z4i xu6xi4o ch9 zh!ngf4n.
At noon, he has lunch at school.
¤¤¤È¦b¾Ç®Õ¦Y¤¤¶º¡C

Xi4w& t1 z4i t^sh%gu3n k4n sh%.
In the afternoon, he reads books in the library.
¤U¤È¥L¦b¹Ï®ÑÀ]¬Ý®Ñ¡C

Sì di3n tã huí jiã.
At four o'clock he goes home.
¥|ÂI¥L¦^®a¡C

W3nshang tã z4i ji1lî xu6xí.
In the everning he studies at home.
±ß¤W¥L¦b®a¸Ì¾Ç²ß¡C

Tã y=b1n sh0yï di3n shu=ji4o.
He usually goes to bed at eleven o'clock.
¥L¤@¯ë¤Q¤@ÂIºÎÄ±¡C

2. 

Xi4nza= b1 di3nzh!ng.
It is eight o'clock now.
²{¦b¤KÂIÄÁ¡C

John d4o g!ngs9 q* sh4ngb1n.
John goes to the company to work.
John ¨ì¤½¥q¥h¤W¯Z¡C

T1 m7iti1n b1 di3n ch% m6n.
He leaves home at eight o'clock every day.
¥L¨C¤Ñ¤KÂI¥Xªù¡C

B1 di3n b4n d4o g!ngsi.
He arrives in the company at half past eight.
¤KÂI¥b¨ì¤½¥q¡C

Sh4ngw& t1 z4i b4ng!ngsh= g!ngzu$.
He works in his office in the morning.
¤W¤È¥L¦b¿ì¤½«Ç¤u§@¡C

Xi4w& t1 g5n bi6de g!ngs9 d3 di4nhu4, t2n sh5ngyi.
In the afternoon, he calls other companies and discusses business.
¤U¤È¥L¸ò§Oªº¤½¥q¥´¹q¸Ü¡A½Í¥Í·N¡C

T1 w& di3n xi4 b1n.
He finishes work at five o'clcok.
¥L¤­ÂI¤U¯Z¡C

W& di3n b4n t1 l0k1i b4ng!ngsh=.
At half past five, he leaves the office.
¤­ÂI¥b¥LÂ÷¶}¿ì¤½«Ç¡C

Li* di3n hu0 d4o ji1. 
At sic o'clock, he arrives home.
¤»ÂI¦^¨ì®a¡C

T1 m7iti1n d!u h7n m2ng.
He is very busy every day.
¥L¨C¤Ñ³£«Ü¦£¡C

3. 

A: John, n-h3o.
A: Hello, John.
A:John,§A¦n¡C

B: L- Xi1nsheng, n-h3o.
B: Hello, Mr. Li.
B:§õ¥ý¥Í¡A§A¦n¡C

A: Xi4nz4i j- di3nzh!ng?
A: What time is it now?
A:²{¦b´XÂIÄÁ¡H

B: Xi4nz4i b1 di3nzh!ng.
B: It is eight o'clock now.
B:²{¦b¤KÂIÄÁ¡C

A: N- d4o n3l- q*?
A: Where are you going?
A:§A¨ì­þ¸Ì¥h¡H

B: W# d4o g!ngs9 q* sh4ngb1n.
B: I am going to my company to work.
B:§Ú¨ì¤½¥q¥h¤W¯Z¡C

A: N- sh6nme sh0h$u hu0 ji1?
A: What time do you go home?
A:§A¤°»ò®É­Ô¦^®a¡H

B: W# w& di3n b4n hu0 ji1.
B: I go home at half past five.
B:§Ú¤­ÂI¥b¦^®a¡C

A: W#m6n j9nti1n w3nsh4ng xu6 Y9nw6n, du= bu du=?
A: We are going to learn English tonight, is it right?
A:§Ú­Ì¤µ¤Ñ±ß¤W¾Ç­^¤å¡A¹ï¤£¹ï¡H

B: Du=. W#men w3nsh4ng q9 di3n ji4n, h3o bu h3o?
B: Right. We'll meet at seven in the evening, is it OK?
B:¹ï¡C§Ú­Ì±ß¤W¤CÂI¨£¡A¦n¤£¦n¡H

A: H3o. W3nshang ji4n.
A: Good. See you in the evening.
A:¦n¡C±ß¤W¨£¡C

4. 

A: L- Xi1nsheng, xi4nz4i j- di3n le?
A: Mr. Li, what time is it now?
A:§õ¥ý¥Í¡A²{¦b´XÂI¤F¡H

B: B1 di3n sh0 f5n. 
B: Eight ten.
B:¤KÂI¤Q¤À¡C

A: W#men xu6 le y0 ge xi3osh0 le.
A: We have studied for one hour.
A:§Ú­Ì¾Ç¤F¤@­Ó¤p®É¤F¡C

B:Y4o bu y4o xi%xi y0xi4?
B: Do you need rest?
B:­n¤£­n¥ð®§¤@¤U¡H

A: H3o, w#men xi%xi sh0 f5nzh!ng, b1 di3n 8rsh0 f5n z4i k1ish-.
A: Fine, let's take a ten minute break. Let's resume at eight twenty.
A:¦n¡A§Ú­Ì¥ð®§¤Q¤ÀÄÁ¡A¤KÂI¤G¤Q¤À¦A¶}©l¡C

B: X0ng.
B: OK.
B:¦æ¡C

B: John, xi4nz4i b1 di3n 8rsh0 w& f5n le.
B: John, it is already eight twenty-five.
B:John, ²{¦b¤KÂI¤G¤Q¤­¤À¤F¡C

A: W#men j=x* xu6 ba.
A: Let's continue our study.
A:§Ú­ÌÄ~Äò¾Ç§a¡C

A: H3o. L- Xi1ngsheng, 'five to nine' Zh!ngw6n z6nme shu!?
A: Good. Mr. Li, how to say 'five to nine' in Chinese?
A:¦n¡C§õ¥ý¥Í¡A'five to nine' ¤¤¤å«ç»ò»¡¡H

B: Ch4 w& f5n jiú di3n.
B: Five to nine.
B:®t¤­¤À¤EÂI¡C

A: Xi4nz4i ch4 li3ng f5n ji& di3n, du= bu du=?
A: It is two to nine, is it correct?
A:²{¦b®t¨â¤À¤EÂI¡A¹ï¤£¹ï¡H

B: Du=. W#men g1i xi4 k8 le.
B: Correct. We should finish class now.
B:¹ï¡C§Ú­Ì¸Ó¤U½Ò¤F¡C

Part II. Utterances and Notes

	Pay attention to the position of time words. In Chinese, time words often go before the verbs. This is different from English.

	Pay attention to the following time expression:

9:00 | jiú di3n
9:05 | jiú di3n (l0ng) w& f5n
9:10 | jiú di3n sh0 f5n

9:15

jiú di3n sh0w& (f5n)
jiú di3n y0 k8

9:30

jiú di3n b4n
ji^ di3n s1nsh0 f5n

9:45

jiú di3n s1n k8
ji^ di3n s=sh0w^ f5n
ch4 y0 k8 sh0 di3n

9:57

jiú di3n w&sh0q9 (f5n)
ch4 s1n f5n jiú di3n

morning | sh4ngw&
noon | zh!ngw&
afternoon | xi4w&

evening
night

w3nshang
w3nshang

	'f5n' (minute) is optional. Can you figure out when it is used when it is not used?

	The sequence of time words follows the rule in Chinese: year>month>day>part of a day>hour, e.g. 1996 ni2n liù yuè 30 rì sh4ngwû jiú di3n (9 o'clock in the morning, June 30, 1996).

	'le' indicates the change of status. 'Xi4nz4i j- di3n le?' means 'What time is it now?' as compared to the past. 

More examples:

Xi4nz4i b1 di3n 8rsh0 w& f5n le. 'It is already 8:25 now.'

Part III. New Sentence Modules

1. What time is it now? It is (already)...

xi4nz4i j- di3n (zh!ng) (le)?

b1 di3n (zh!ng)
w& di3n b4n
b1 di3n sh0 f5n
b1 di3n 8rsh0 f5n
b1 di3n 8rsh0w& f5n
ch4 w& f5n ji^ di3n
ch4 li3ng f5n jiu^ di3n

xi4nz4i

le

sh4ngb1n
y#u k8
xi4 k8
d4o g!ngs= q*
q* xu6xi4o
ch% m6n
shu=ji4o
ch9 zh!ngf4n
hu0 ji1
l0k1i b4ng!ngsh=
hu0 d4o ji1

2. Somebody does something at ... (time)

m7iti1n
y=b1n
j9nti1n
                                  
sh6nme sh0h$u
j- di3n zh!ng
N-

	

sh4ngb1n
y#u k8
xi4 k8
d4o g!ngs= q*
q* xu6xi4o
ch% m6n
shu=ji4o
ch9 zh!ngf4n
hu0 ji1
l0k1i b4ng!ngsh=
hu0 d4o ji1

b1 di3n (zh!ng)
w& di3n b4n
b1 di3n sh0 f5n
b1 di3n 8rsh0 f5n
b1 di3n 8rsh0w& f5n
sh0y9 di3n

m7iti1n
y=b1n
j9nti1n

W#

3. ... do something somewher

ch9 zh!ngf4n
k4n sh%
xu5x0
g!ngzu$
xu6xi4o
t^sh%gu3n
ji1 l-
b4ng!ngsh=

z4i

4. ... do something with somebody
bi6de g!ngs9

g5n
d3 di4nhu4
t2n sh5ngy=

Part IV. Practice Makes Perfect

Tell the following time in Chinese:

8:00
9:07
10:15
11:25
12:30
1:35
2:45
3:58
10:30 am
2:45 pm
6:00 am

6:00 pm

How to say the following expressions in Chinese?

every day
to study
to have class
to eat lunch
to read books
to go home
to go to the company to work
to finish work
to leave home
to leave office
to arrive in the company
to arrive home
to make phone calls
to discuss business
to go to work
one hour, two hours...
to take a rest
(Do you) need ...?
to begin (to start)
to start again (to resume)
to continue
how to say... in Chinese
to finish class
should, should go to eat lunch, should go to work, should go home (please always use 'le' at the end)

Answer the following questions in Chinese:

N- m7iti1n j- di3nzh!ng sh4ngb1n?
N- j- di3nzh!ng d4o g!ngs9 q*?
J- di3nzh!ng ch%m6n?
Sh4ngw& n- zu$ sh6nme?
Xi4w& n- zu$ sh6nme?
J- di3nzh!ng xi4 b1n?
J- di3nzh!ng l0k1i b4ng!ngsh=?
J- di3nzh!ng d4o ji1?
N- m7iti1n d!u h7n m2ng ma?
N- sh6nme sh0h$u (what time) xu6 Zh!ngw6n?
Xi4nz4i j- di3n le?
'9:30' Zh!ngw6n z6nme shu!?
N- ju6de Zh!ngw6n n2n bu n2n?

Tell me something about your daily activities. Please describe what time you do what. You can write it first and then say it.