3.3 Numbers, Time, and the Calendar — Epoché
What you will be able to do Say numbers above a hundred, and regroup large ones the way Chinese groups them. Tell the time to the minute, and ask what time it is. Name any day of the week and any month, and give a date in the Chinese order. Say today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, this year and last year, and put events in order. Prerequisites : 2.7, which gave you the numbers up to a hundred, the two words for two and the shape of a date. Lesson 2.8 on measure words is also assumed, because the words for o'clock, the minute and the second follow a number directly, as measure words do. One thing here is genuinely new rather than merely unfamiliar: Chinese groups large numbers in ten thousands, not thousands, so reading a long figure means regrouping the digits. The calendar, which runs from the largest unit down, year then month then day, with the weekday numbered rather than named, was met in lesson 2.7; here it gets its full set of words. Word list The first column gives the simplified form, the traditional form in brackets where it differs, and the pinyin. The third column is the one to read slowly; it is not a translation of anything. A word met in an earlier list appears again here so that the set is complete; its note opens with "From" and the number of the lesson that first listed it. Three habits to pick up. Time expressions need no verb: a number plus the word for o'clock is a whole sentence, with nothing answering to "is". Words for a point in time are nouns and stand before the verb, not at the end as English often puts them; a length of time is different and comes after the verb, which is taught in a later phase. And words for past and future do the work English does with tense, since the verb never changes. Numbers and units Ten words. The large units multiply rather than replace each other, and the two question words stand exactly where the number would, so a question keeps the word order of its answer. Word Meaning Notes 零 zh líng numeral · zero Note for English speakers From 2.7. The word is also the ordinary one for small change and for a remainder. There is no separate 'nought', 'nil' and 'oh' as in English: one word does all of it. 零在一前面。 Zero comes before one. 有零钱吗？ Do you have any change? 两 zh liǎng （ 兩 ） liǎng numeral · two (before a measure word) Note for English speakers From 2.7. Chinese has two words for two. This one is used when the number is followed by a measure word or a unit, and the other is used in counting and in numerals. English never has to make this choice. 我有两只猫。 I have two cats. 两点可以。 Two o'clock is fine. 半 zh bàn numeral · half Note for English speakers From 2.7. For clock times it follows the hour, so the order is 'three o'clock half' where English says 'half past three'. Before a noun it comes first, as in English 'half a day'. 3点半了。 It's half past three. 她让我等了半小时。 She kept me waiting for half an hour. 百 zh bǎi numeral · hundred Note for English speakers From 2.7. As a number it needs a number in front of it, or 几 , a few, as in the first example: where English says 'a hundred', Chinese says 'one hundred', 一百 . 她有几百本书。 She has hundreds of books. 我的学校里有一百个人。 There are a hundred people in my school. 千 zh qiān numeral · thousand Note for English speakers From 2.7. Like the entry above, it needs a number or 几 in front: 一千 , 几千 . Ten million is 一千万 . On their own, the two characters 千万 are also a separate word, 'be sure to' (with a negative, 'whatever you do, don't'). 她有两千本书。 She has two thousand books. 他有一千多本书。 He has more than a thousand books. 万 zh wàn （ 萬 ） wàn numeral · ten thousand Note for English speakers This is the real break with English. Chinese groups large numbers in units of ten thousand, not of a thousand, so a million is 'a hundred ten-thousands' and you have to regroup the digits as you read them. 这值100万日元。 This is worth a million yen. 倍 zh bèi measure word · times; fold Note for English speakers It follows the number, so 'four times' is 'four folds'. English puts 'times' after the number too, but Chinese also uses this word where English says 'double' or 'twice as much'. 我的房间是他的两倍大。 My room is twice as big as his. 6的4倍是多少？ What's four times six? 几 zh jǐ （ 幾 ） jǐ pronoun · how many; a few Note for English speakers From 2.6. A question word that stands where the number would stand, so the word order of the question is the word order of the answer. English has to move 'how many' to the front of the sentence. 几位？ How many in your party? 你几岁？ How old are you? 多少 zh duōshao pronoun · how many; how much Note for English speakers Literally 'much few', and the second syllable is toneless here. Use it for larger or unknown quantities and for prices; the entry above is for small counts. 多少人？ How many people? 多少钱？ How much is it? 号 zh hào （ 號 ） hào noun · number; day of the month Note for English speakers From 2.7. It gives the day of the month in speech, and also a room number or a shoe size. English needs 'the third' with an ordinal ending, where Chinese just puts the plain number in front of this word. 今天几号？ What's the date today? 是十月三号。 It's the third of October. Telling the time Eight words. O'clock, minute and second follow their number directly, as measure words do, and follow each other with nothing in between. The word for an hour as a length of time is a noun, and a number usually takes the measure word 个 before it. Word Meaning Notes 点 zh diǎn （ 點 ） diǎn measure word · o'clock Note for English speakers From 1.9. It follows the number and needs no verb, so 'seven o'clock' is a complete sentence. Its other common use, after an adjective, softens a command, which is why a dictionary shows senses that have nothing to do with the clock. 现在是7点45分。 It's 7:45. 现在是7点50分。 It's 7:50. 分 zh fēn measure word · minute Note for English speakers From 2.7. Minutes follow the hour with no word between them: 'seven o'clock forty-five minutes'. The same character is also a verb meaning to divide, and a unit of money. 现在7点30分了。 It's 7:30 now. 秒 zh m