'at what time' translation/pinyin help

[adamnhms]

Hello,

I was studying with my audio book, and the program presented a phrase which translated to 'at what time'.

I searched all over google and found that maybe my program was saying 'jí diǎn zhōng'

Can anybody confirm whether 'jí diǎn zhōng' means 'at what time'?

Thank you for the help!

[skylee]

Yes. The ji is a third tone, though. Tone sandhi.

[renzhe]

Keep in mind that this phrase is asking about clock time (e.g. "at 12:30") and not time in a general sense (e.g. "tomorrow", "last year"...)

[adamnhms]

Yes. The ji is a third tone, though. Tone sandhi.

Xièxie nǐ!

Keep in mind that this phrase is asking about clock time

That is the exact context in which my audio book program was using it in. Good to know, thank you

[Ruben von Zwack]

Like renzhe says. You will come across a dozen times how to ask for the time, and this way is to ask for the exact hour, it literally means something along the lines of "which point (on the) clock"?

edit: sorry, I meant "a dozen ways" of course

[adamnhms]

Like renzhe says. You will come across a dozen times how to ask for the time, and this way is to ask for the exact hour, it literally means something along the lines of "which point (on the) clock"?

That's pretty much how my audio book was telling me to use it: as a question or to represent a time

e.g.

(yīdiǎnzhōng huózhě jiǔdiǎnzhōng)

one o'clock or nine o'clock

It'll probably be very useful in the future

[歐博思]

Minor note:

in post #6

yīdiǎnzhōng huózhě jiǔdiǎnzhōng

should be huòzhě : fourth tone where underlined

[tooironic]

Note also that 几时 (jǐshí) is another common way of saying "when (at what time)?".

[adamnhms]

should be huòzhě : fourth tone where underlined

My mistake, thanks for pointing that out

Note also that 几时 (jǐshí) is another common way of saying "when (at what time)?".

Will do, it seems like in Mandarin there are thousands of ways of expressing the same thought.

[Shelley]

Don't let that put you off, as far as I know there are thousands of way of expressing things in English too.

[ATkinG]

According to me "什么时候" (pinyin:- Shénme shíhou) is used to ask general time period like (Tomorrow, on Monday, next year etc) right?

[Ruben von Zwack]

This brings me to the difference between 时候 shíhou and 时间 shíjiān- can someone explain? Or give examples when to use one, when to use the other, and what would be wrong? I seem unable to wrap my head around this simple thing.

[tooironic]

@ATkinG Yes, that's right.

@Ruben 时间 is more commonly used as a standalone noun meaning "time", e.g. 我们的时间有限 (our time is limited), 完成这项任务要多少时间? (how much time/how long will it take to finish this task?), etc., whilst 时候 is more often used in set phrases such as “...的时候” (when...), ”那(个)时候” (at that time), "有时候" (sometimes), etc.

My C-E dictionary also gives the following usage tip: “时候”一般所指时间起始和终点比较模糊；“时间”一般指相对明确的时间段或时间点。("Shihou" usually refers to a time frame without a clear beginning and end, while "shijian" usually refers to a relatively explicit period of time or point in time.)

Hope that helps.

[Ruben von Zwack]

Thanks tooironic, it helps a lot!