Time Travel With somebody who looks like Mr Angry Cloud-Ghost

Hello, you! It is time for you to learn how to say the time... I am so funny...

You already know how to say the time in English

My glasses!!

In English first you say the minutes: “It is twenty minutes past...”

... and then you say the hours: “It is twenty minutes past twelve”

But things in Chinese work differently.

So, in Chinese firstly we often give the hours: “ 十二点...”

And then the minutes: “ 十二点二十分 ”

If it is a half past, we say: “ 半 ”, like in “ 十二点半 ”

Or you can say : “ 十二点三十 ”

Can you remember how to say “half past” in Chinese?

Of course you can’t!

It is “ 半 ” and you need to pay more attention!!

If it is a quarter past, in Chinese we say: “ 一刻 ”, like in “ 十二点一刻 ”

Or you can say “ 十五分 ”

Can you remember how to say “fifteen” in Chinese?

I don’t believe you!!! I think you are lying!!!

It is “ 十五 ” and you still need to pay more attention!!

But what about when it is “a quarter to”, not “a quarter past”?

Difficult question, isn’t it?

We need to say: “ 差 ”, like in “ 差一刻十二点 ”

So, can you tell me (of course you can’t) how we say “it is twenty five minutes to twelve” in Chinese?

You are wrong, it is “ 差二十五 分十二点 ”, HA! HA!

Before we say the hours we usually say “ 现在 ”

So, when we say minutes, we say “ 分钟 ”

So, when we say o’clock, we say “ 点钟 ”

For half past: “ 半 ” For a quarter past: “ 一刻 ”

But for a quarter to: “ 差一刻 ”

I’m sure you can remember all that. The next mystery is my identity. Mwahahahaha… Sigh.