语法 · HSK 1–2
Chinese Numbers, Dates, Days and Telling Time (零, 二/两, 差/刻, 年月日)
Chinese always orders dates and times from largest unit to smallest: Year → Month → Day → Day of week → Part of day → Hour → Minute (2026年11月6日星期五上午十点半). Inside numbers, one 零 (líng) is read whenever one or more zero digits sit between non-zero digits (105 is 一百零五, 1005 is 一千零五), while trailing zeros are silent (150 is 一百五十). Clock time uses 点 (o'clock), 半 (half past), 刻 (15 minutes) and 差 (minutes to the hour).
句型Patterns
XXXX年 + X月 + X日/号 + 星期XBig-to-small date order: 号 in speech, 日 in formal writing.上午 / 下午 / 晚上 + X点 + X分 / 半 / 一刻Clock time: 下午两点一刻 (2:15 p.m.), 差五分八点 (7:55).一百零五 (105) vs 一百五十 (150)Say 零 for internal zeros; keep 一 before 十 in 110–119 (一百一十五).一万 (10,000) / 十万 (100,000) / 一百万 (1,000,000)Large numbers group by four digits (万 = 10,000).
例句Examples
- 今天是十月二十号，星期二。jīn tiān shì shí yuè èr shí hào, xīng qī èr.Today is Tuesday, 20 October.
- 我们明天上午九点一刻在学校门口见。wǒ men míng tiān shàng wǔ jiǔ diǎn yí kè zài xué xiào mén kǒu jiàn.Let's meet at the school gate at 9:15 tomorrow morning.
- 现在差十分十二点，快去吃午饭吧。xiàn zài chà shí fēn shí èr diǎn, kuài qù chī wǔ fàn ba.It's ten to twelve now; let's go have lunch.
- 这件衣服一共三百零五块钱。zhè jiàn yī fu yí gòng sān bǎi líng wǔ kuài qián.This piece of clothing costs 305 yuan in total.
常见错误Common mistakes
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✗今天是六号十一月。
✓今天是十一月六号。
Chinese dates strictly go from largest unit to smallest: Year → Month → Day.
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✗现在是两点下午。
✓现在是下午两点。
上午/下午/晚上 goes before the clock hour, never after it.
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✗我们学校有百五十个老师。
✓我们学校有一百五十个老师。
Unlike 十 (10), 百, 千 and 万 always require 一 before them when the first digit is 1.
重点词语Words in this guide
Common questions
What is the difference between 一百五 and 一百零五?
一百五 is short for 一百五十 (150)—in casual speech, the final unit after a non-zero digit can drop. To mean 105, you must say 零: 一百零五.
Why do people say yāo (幺) instead of yī (一) in phone and room numbers?
In spoken Mainland Mandarin, 1 is often read yāo in phone numbers, room numbers and bus routes (e.g. 110 is yāo-yāo-líng) so it is not confused with 七 (qī).