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Cantonese Skills Lesson 4
Time

Vocabulary

\jung\ \tauh\	hour	鐘頭	/gei/	how many? someodd	幾
/siu/ sih	hour	小時	/jou/ seuhng	morning	早上
\fan\ \jung\	minute	分鐘	aan jau	noon	宴晝
/miuh/	second	秒	\hah\ jau	afternoon	下晝
/dim/	point	點	\hah\ /ngh/	afternoon	下午
\jung\	clock	鐘	/maahn/ /seuhng/	evening	晚上
bun	half	半	bun /yeh/	midnight	半夜

On the Hour

Telling time in Cantonese is very similar to how it is done in English. The hour is read first, then the minute, then the time of day. Cantonese differs in that the separator between hours and minutes is always read.

To tell time when a new hour is struck, the format is HOUR + "/dim/" + "\jung\" This literally is referring to the points on the clock. Each hour is considered one point. For this reason, the "2" in "2 o'clock" is replaced with "a couple" as happens with all things being counted in Cantonese.

hours	:	clock	am/pm
	/dim/	\jung\		=

Note that the time "morning", "afternoon" or "evening" can come before or after the time. If time comes first, the time is the general term and "morning, afternoon, evening" specifies whether it is am or pm. If times comes last, it is specifying what time in the morning, afternoon, or evening exactly.

Hours and Minutes

To tell time when the time is not on the hour, there are two ways. Cantonese people tend to round the minute to the nearest five. This allows them to use the minute hand of the clock to specify the time. Instead of saying how many minutes, they give the number the big hand points to. The one exception to this is when the big hand points to "6" in which case they specify "half" (bun).

Note that /gei/ can either be used to make a question (meaning "how many") or it can be used in a statement to mean "however many". In telling time it can be used as in "5: what?" showing that the speaker is asking for an exact time. Or it can be used to as in "5: something" meaning "sometime after five".

hours	:	minutes	am/pm
	/dim/			=

The second way is to read out the entire number for the minutes and then add the term "minutes" before stating morning, afternoon, or evening. This is the way time is expressed in written Chinese and it is used when giving an exact time is important. One additional difference between the first and second methods is that you must read the initial zero when giving the full minutes if it is 9 or less.

hours	:	minutes	am/pm
	/dim/	\fan\		=

Generally, Cantonese speakers will shorten \fan\ \jung\ to \fan\. when using this pattern, it is important to say \fan\ after the minutes, otherwise it can be confusing as to which form you are using.

Cantonese Skills Lesson 4 Time

Vocabulary

On the Hour

Hours and Minutes

Cantonese Skills Lesson 4
Time