Chinese Time Vocabulary

Here are Chinese words for time to start with: 下午 (xià wǔ, afternoon), 天 (tiān, day), 傍晚 (bàng wǎn, evening), 早晨 (zǎo chén, morning). Below are 32 words (A1–C2) with their English translations, part of speech and a romanization to help you say them, across 4 themed lists.

A round white wall clock on a red background
Photo: freestocks

Time Basics

A1
EnglishChineseTypeLevel
afternoon下午xià wǔnounA1
day天tiānnounA1
evening傍晚bàng wǎnnounA1
morning早晨zǎo chénnounA1
night晚上wǎn shàngnounA1
today今天jīn tiānadvA1
tomorrow明天míng tiānadvA1
week周zhōunounA1

The rest of this pack is in the app

Time Intermediate

A1
EnglishChineseTypeLevel
Friday星期五xīng qī wǔnounA1
Monday星期一xīng qī yīnounA1
Thursday星期四xīng qī sìnounA1
Tuesday星期二xīng qī èrnounA1
hour小时xiǎo shínounA1
minute分钟fēn zhōngnounA1
moment片刻piàn kènounA1
month月yuènounA1

Time Advanced

B1–C2
EnglishChineseTypeLevel
chronological按时间顺序的àn shí jiān shùn xù deadjB1
contemporary当代的dāng dài deadjB2
punctual准时的zhǔn shí deadjB2
simultaneous同时的tóng shí deadjB2
anachronism时代错误shí dài cuò wùnounC1
perpetuity永续yǒng xùnounC1
retrospective回顾性的huí gù xìng deadjC1
antiquated陈旧的chén jiù deadjC2

More from this pack waits in the app

Seasons & Natural Time

A1–B1
EnglishChineseTypeLevel
autumn秋天qiū tiānnounA1
spring春天chūn tiānnounA1
summer夏天xià tiānnounA1
winter冬天dōng tiānnounA1
noon中午zhōng wǔnounA2
dusk黄昏huáng hūnnounB1
sunrise日出rì chūnounB1
sunset日落rì luònounB1

Keep going with this pack in the app

Emoji: Twemoji, CC-BY 4.0

A sample of the A1–C2 words. The rest are in the app

Watch Your LanguageVocabulary widgets for iPhone & Apple Watch

These lists show a sample of the A1–C2 words for time. The packs in Watch Your Language hold more and reach the advanced levels, along with every other topic.

The app shows them to you a few at a time, in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and brings back the ones you keep forgetting.

Common questions

Which Chinese words should I learn for time?

You could start with words like 下午 (xià wǔ, afternoon), 天 (tiān, day), 傍晚 (bàng wǎn, evening), 早晨 (zǎo chén, morning). This page lists 32 Chinese words for time (A1–C2), each with its English translation and part of speech.

How can I remember these Chinese words?

Reading a list once is rarely enough. Watch Your Language shows Chinese words like these in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and schedules repeats so the words you keep forgetting come back more often.

Are these word lists free?

Yes. The lists on this page are free to read, with no sign-up. The app holds more words for each topic.

More Chinese word lists