Talking about time in Chinese isn’t just about knowing the numbers-it’s about grabbing the right words and patterns so you can make plans, share a memory, or just figure out if you’re late. This list hands you around 130 practical time words and expressions, from clock basics to stretches like yesterday, soon, and forever.
We’ve skipped the dusty textbook filler and focused on the vocabulary that shows up in everyday chats, schedules, and stories. Each entry pairs a straightforward meaning with a natural example sentence, so you see exactly how the word behaves in real Chinese.
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Quick Quiz
Think you’ve locked these time words into memory? Give the quiz a spin-no pressure, just a friendly way to spot what’s sticking and what could use a second pass.
Browse the Full List
| Word / Phrase | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 喝 | hē | to drink; My goodness! |
| 四 | sì | four; 4 |
| 回 | huí | to curve; to return; to revolve |
| 块 | kuài | lump (of earth); chunk; piece |
| 多 | duō | many; much; a lot of |
| 多少 | duō shao | how much; how many; which (number) |
| 大 | dà | big; huge; large |
| 天气 | tiān qì | weather |
| 太 | tài | highest; greatest; too (much) |
| 女儿 | nǚ ér | daughter |
| 她 | tā | she |
| 好 | hǎo | good; well; proper |
| 妈妈 | mā ma | mama; mommy; mother |
| 学习 | xué xí | to learn; to study |
| 学校 | xué xiào | school; CL:所[suǒ] |
| 学生 | xué sheng | student; schoolchild |
| 家 | jiā | home; family; classifier for families or businesses |
| 对不起 | duì bu qǐ | unworthy; to let down; I'm sorry |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few |
| 小姐 | xiǎo jie | young lady; miss; (slang) prostitute |
| 少 | shǎo | few; little; lack |
| 岁 | suì | classifier for years (of age); year; year (of crop harvests) |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | to work; (of a machine) to operate; job |
| 年 | nián | year; CL:個|个[gè] |
| 开 | kāi | to open; to start; to turn on |
Free Simplified Chinese Vocab List and Flashcard PDFs to Download
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