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.
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| afternoon | 下午xià wǔ | noun | A1 |
| day | 天tiān | noun | A1 |
| evening | 傍晚bàng wǎn | noun | A1 |
| morning | 早晨zǎo chén | noun | A1 |
| night | 晚上wǎn shàng | noun | A1 |
| today | 今天jīn tiān | adv | A1 |
| tomorrow | 明天míng tiān | adv | A1 |
| week | 周zhōu | noun | A1 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | 星期五xīng qī wǔ | noun | A1 |
| Monday | 星期一xīng qī yī | noun | A1 |
| Thursday | 星期四xīng qī sì | noun | A1 |
| Tuesday | 星期二xīng qī èr | noun | A1 |
| hour | 小时xiǎo shí | noun | A1 |
| minute | 分钟fēn zhōng | noun | A1 |
| moment | 片刻piàn kè | noun | A1 |
| month | 月yuè | noun | A1 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| chronological | 按时间顺序的àn shí jiān shùn xù de | adj | B1 |
| contemporary | 当代的dāng dài de | adj | B2 |
| punctual | 准时的zhǔn shí de | adj | B2 |
| simultaneous | 同时的tóng shí de | adj | B2 |
| anachronism | 时代错误shí dài cuò wù | noun | C1 |
| perpetuity | 永续yǒng xù | noun | C1 |
| retrospective | 回顾性的huí gù xìng de | adj | C1 |
| antiquated | 陈旧的chén jiù de | adj | C2 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| autumn | 秋天qiū tiān | noun | A1 |
| spring | 春天chūn tiān | noun | A1 |
| summer | 夏天xià tiān | noun | A1 |
| winter | 冬天dōng tiān | noun | A1 |
| noon | 中午zhōng wǔ | noun | A2 |
| dusk | 黄昏huáng hūn | noun | B1 |
| sunrise | 日出rì chū | noun | B1 |
| sunset | 日落rì luò | noun | B1 |
Emoji: Twemoji, CC-BY 4.0
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.
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.
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.
Yes. The lists on this page are free to read, with no sign-up. The app holds more words for each topic.