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A short diary or conversation about your day is a useful way to practice Chinese. This article introduces vocabulary for schedules and daily routines, followed by sentence patterns and a sample diary entry.
Chinese Daily Routine Vocabulary
Chinese Days of the Week Vocabulary
Let’s start with the days of the week so you could clearly express your schedule in Chinese.
| Hanzi | Pinyin | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 星期一 | Xīngqīyī | Monday |
| 星期二 | Xīngqī’èr | Tuesday |
| 星期三 | Xīngqīsān | Wednesday |
| 星期四 | Xīngqīsì | Thursday |
| 星期五 | Xīngqīwǔ | Friday |
| 星期六 | Xīngqīliù | Saturday |
| 星期日 | Xīngqīrì | Sunday |
| 周末 | zhōumò | weekend |
| 假期 | jiàqī | holiday |
| 平日 | píngrì | weekday |
| 前天 | qiántiān | the day before yesterday |
| 昨天 | zuótiān | yesterday |
| 今天 | jīntiān | today |
| 明天 | míngtiān | tomorrow |
| 后天 | hòutiān | the day after tomorrow |
| 每天 | měitiān | every day |
| 每星期 | měi xīngqī | every week |
| 每周末 | měi zhōumò | every weekend |
| 前年 | qiánnián | the year before last year |
| 去年 | qùnián | last year |
| 今年 | jīnnián | this year |
| 明年 | míngnián | next year |
| 次年 | cì nián | the following year (relative to a mentioned year) |
| 上个_____ | shàng gè_____ | last (week/month): 上个星期 / 上个月 |
| 下个_____ | xià gè_____ | next (week/month): 下个星期 / 下个月 |
| 每 | měi | every |
| 天 | tiān | day |
| 星期 | xīngqī | week |
| 年 | nián | year |
| 每 (天/星期/年/周末） | měi (tiān/xīngqī/nián/zhōumò) | every (day/week/year/weekend) |
Time of the Day in Chinese
| Hanzi | Pinyin | Definition | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 凌晨 | língchén | Early morning (12 MN -2 AM) | |
| 黎明 | límíng | Dawn (4 AM-5 AM) | |
| 拂晓 | fúxiǎo | Dawn (4 AM-6 AM) | |
| 清晨 | qīngchén | Early morning (6 AM-7 AM) | |
| 早上 | zǎoshàng | Morning (6 AM-8 AM) | |
| 上午 | shàngwǔ | Morning (8 AM-11 AM) | |
| 中午 | zhōngwǔ | Noon (11 AM-1 PM) | |
| 下午 | xiàwǔ | Afternoon (2 PM-5 PM) | |
| 晚上 | wǎnshang | Evening (6 PM-10 PM) | |
| 傍晚 | bàngwǎn | Evening (5 PM-6 PM) | |
| 黄昏 | huánghūn | Dusk (4 PM-5 PM) | |
| 午夜 | wǔyè | Midnight (11 PM-1 AM) | |
| 夜间 | yèjiān | Nighttime (7 PM-5 AM) | |
| 一点 | yīdiǎn | 1:00 o’clock | |
| 两点 | liǎng diǎn | 2:00 o’clock | |
| 三点 | sān diǎn | 3:00 o’clock | |
| 四点 | sì diǎn | 4:00 o’clock | |
| 五点 | wǔ diǎn | 5:00 o’clock | |
| 六点 | liù diǎn | 6:00 o’clock | |
| 七点 | qī diǎn | 7:00 o’clock | |
| 八点 | bā diǎn | 8:00 o’clock | |
| 九点 | jiǔ diǎn | 9:00 o’clock | |
| 十点 | shí diǎn | 10:00 o’clock | |
| 十一点 | shíyī diǎn | 11:00 o’clock | |
| 十二点 | shí’èr diǎn | 12:00 o’clock |
黎明 (límíng) and 拂晓 (fúxiǎo) describe daybreak. 破晓 is another word for dawn, pronounced pòxiǎo. Day-part expressions have flexible boundaries: dawn and dusk vary by season, and words such as 早上 and 上午 overlap. Use a clock time when precision matters. For “the year after next”, use 后年 (hòunián); 次年 means the following year relative to an already mentioned year. Last/next day and year are normally 昨天/明天 and 去年/明年, without 个.
Daily Routine in Chinese
| Hanzi | Pinyin | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 参加会议 | cānjiā huìyì | attend meeting |
| 刷牙 | shuāyá | brush teeth |
| 买饭 | mǎi fàn | buy food |
| 做早饭 | zuò zǎofàn | cook breakfast |
| 做晚饭 | zuò wǎnfàn | cook dinner |
| 穿好衣服 | chuān hǎo yīfú | finish getting dressed |
| 吃早饭 | chī zǎo fàn | eat breakfast |
| 吃晚饭 | chī wǎnfàn | eat dinner |
| 吃午饭 | chī wǔfàn | eat lunch |
| 起床 | qǐchuáng | get up (from bed) |
| 去听音乐会 | qù tīng yīnyuè huì | go to a concert |
| 去聚会 | qù jùhuì | go to a party |
| 上学 | shàngxué | go to school |
| 上班 | shàngbān | go to work |
| 跑步 | pǎobù | jog |
| 听音乐 | tīng yīnyuè | listen to music |
| 玩电子游戏 | wán diànzǐ yóuxì | play video games |
| 看书 | kànshū | read a book |
| 睡觉 | shuìjiào | sleep |
| 上网 | shàngwǎng | surf the net |
| 洗澡 | xǐzǎo | take a bath/shower |
| 洗脸 | xǐliǎn | wash face |
| 看电影 | kàn diànyǐng | watch a movie |
| 锻炼 | duànliàn | exercise; work out |
Grammar
In telling the time, it is very important to indicate the situation of the time; whether it’s in the morning, noon, afternoon, evening, etc. That indicator is placed before the actual time and 点 (diǎn) which means “o’clock”
INDICATOR + TIME +
点diǎn
Examples:
límíng wǔ diǎn
黎明 五 点
5:00 AM
shàngwǔ shí diǎn
早上 十 点
10:00 AM
zhōngwǔ shí’èr diǎn
中午 十二 点
12:00 NN
xiàwǔ liǎng diǎn下午 两 点2:00 PM
wǎnshang qī diǎn晚上 七 点7:00 PM
A time expression commonly appears before the verb, either before or after the subject: 今天我上班 or 我今天上班. A useful beginner pattern is subject + time + place + verb. This is a common pattern, not an absolute ban on all other orders. A duration such as 一个小时 has a different grammatical role from the time at which an action happens.
SBJ + TIME (WHEN) + PLACE* + VERBORTIME (WHEN) + SBJ + PLACE* + VERB
*Place here can be omitted (depending on your sentence)
zǎoshang bā diǎn wǒ qǐchuáng早上 八 点 我 起床 I get up at 8 o’clock in the morning.
wǒ xiàwǔ yīdiǎn chī wǔfàn我 下午 一点 吃 午饭I eat lunch at 1 o’clock in the afternoon.
wǎnshang jiǔ diǎn dìdi wán diànzǐyóuxì晚上 九 点 弟弟 玩 电子游戏Younger brother plays videogames at 9 o’clock in the evening.
wǎnshang shí diǎn wǒmen shuìjiào晚上 十 点 我们 睡觉We go to sleep at 10 o’clock in the evening.
zhōngwǔ shí’èr diǎn wǒmen mǎi fàn
中午 十二 点 我们 买 饭We buy food at 12 noon.
When adding the day and time in a sentence, the day in the sentence comes before the time.
SBJ + DAY + TIME (WHEN) + PLACE* + VERBORDAY + TIME (WHEN) + SBJ + PLACE* + VERB
*Place here can be omitted (depending on your sentence)
Examples:
Xīngqīrì zǎoshang māma qù chāoshì星期日 早上 妈妈 去 超市Mother goes to the market on Sunday morning.
wǒ jīntiān zǎoshang qī diǎn shàngbān我 今天 早上 七 点 上班Today, I will go to work at 7 o’clock in the morning.
zuótiān xiàwǔ wǒmen qù shēngrì jùhuì昨天 下午 我们 去 生日 聚会We went to a birthday party yesterday afternoon.
míngtiān wǎnshang bā diǎn tāmen huì kàn diànyǐng明天 晚上 八 点 他们 会 看 电影They will watch a movie tomorrow at 8 o’clock in the evening.
Practice time!
Write a few sentences about your day using the vocabulary above. Include a time expression and check that the Chinese and translation describe the same sequence. Here is a sample written after getting up, with plans for later:
Hanzi:今天早上七点我起床了。上午我有一个会议。下午四点我会下班。晚上我会做晚饭，然后吃晚饭。
Pinyin:Jīntiān zǎoshang qī diǎn wǒ qǐchuáng le. Shàngwǔ wǒ yǒu yí ge huìyì. Xiàwǔ sì diǎn wǒ huì xiàbān. Wǎnshang wǒ huì zuò wǎnfàn, ránhòu chī wǎnfàn.
Translation:I got up at seven this morning. I have a meeting in the morning. I will finish work at four in the afternoon. In the evening, I will cook dinner and then eat.
Now you try!Keep practicing and enjoy learning Chinese!
