Chinese Vocabulary for: Time, dates, schedules
Time, dates, and schedules in Mandarin appear in every conversation: meetings, travel, and daily plans. This page covers the vocabulary and sentences you need to say what time it is, when something happens, and how to reschedule or confirm. The content is tuned for A2–B2 learners and HSK 3–6, so you get real-life phrasing. Use example sentences and spaced repetition so time expressions come out naturally.
When you'd use this
Use this when talking about the time, days of the week, dates, or when arranging or changing schedules (meetings, appointments, travel).
Key vocabulary
- 几点jǐ diǎn• what time
- 点diǎn• o'clock
- 分fēn• minute
- 半bàn• half
- 早上zǎo shang• morning
- 下午xià wǔ• afternoon
- 晚上wǎn shang• evening
- 星期xīng qī• week
- 号hào• date (day of month)
- 月yuè• month
- 改期gǎi qī• reschedule
- 推迟tuī chí• postpone
- 提前tí qián• in advance / earlier
- 准时zhǔn shí• on time
Example sentences
现在几点？
Xiàn zài jǐ diǎn?
What time is it now?
我们八点半见。
Wǒ men bā diǎn bàn jiàn.
Let's meet at 8:30.
会议改期了。
Huì yì gǎi qī le.
The meeting was rescheduled.
可以推迟到明天吗？
Kě yǐ tuī chí dào míng tiān ma?
Can we postpone to tomorrow?
请提前十分钟到。
Qǐng tí qián shí fēn zhōng dào.
Please arrive 10 minutes early.
下星期五几号？
Xià xīng qī wǔ jǐ hào?
What's the date next Friday?
Common mistakes / natural phrasing
'点半' is half past (e.g. 八点半 = 8:30). '号' is day of month (几号 = what date). '改期' is reschedule; '推迟' is postpone. '提前' can mean 'in advance' or 'earlier' depending on context.
Ready to learn this vocabulary with level-tuned sentences and a daily review loop? Start your Topic Island and we'll generate words and examples for you.