Dates, time and event information
| English | 中文 | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| time | 时候 | shí hou |
| Wednesday | 星期三 | xīng qī sān |
A decision before an answer
- The club meets on Wednesday星期三, but the notice also says 三点. One tells you the day; the other gives the hour.
- Your goal: Ask and answer dates, times, places and participants.
Read the relationship
- Numbers build transparently: eleven十一 is eleven, twenty二十 is twenty and 二十三 is twenty-three.
- Read basic event information in public notices.
二十三 is:
二十 is twenty plus 三.
Use the defining rule
- Dates use larger units first: year grain年, month moon月, day sun日 or ordinal number号. Time uses point点 and part分.
- Distinguish question words for time, place and person.
几点？ asks for:
点 marks hours on the clock.
Check the conditions
- Ask what time?几点 for clock time and week星期how many / a few几 for day of week. at / in在where哪里 asks where an event occurs.
- Distinguish question words for time, place and person.
Notice: Wednesday星期三afternoon下午三点，school学校。Answer week星期how many / a few几？ with Wednesday星期三; what time?几点？ with afternoon下午三点; at / in在where哪里？ with at / in在school学校。The same number three三 has different roles depending on the noun after it.
三点半 is ____:30 (hour only).
半 adds half an hour.
Apply the task format
- A time phrase often comes before the verb: I / me我today今天三点to go去school学校。Keep the person, time, action and place linked.
- Distinguish question words for time, place and person.
Do not answer a weekday question with only an hour. Read the question word and the unit.
Which answer fits this case?
Ask and answer dates, times, places and participants
星期三 and 三点 are the same kind of information.
One is a weekday, the other an hour.
Keep the distinctions
- time (concept of) time时间 — When an event happens.
- Wednesday Wednesday星期三 — The day after Tuesday.
- Ask and answer dates, times, places and participants.
- Read basic event information in public notices.
- Distinguish question words for time, place and person.
Match each term with its precise meaning in this lesson.
Keep the distinctions stated in the teaching example.
Put this lesson’s reasoning or event sequence in order.
The order follows the stated process; check each stage before the next.