Telling the time, and dates

點 is the hour and 分 the minutes. Say them in that order and the time comes out.

分 can be dropped once the number makes it obvious: 七點二十 is understood. Below ten minutes past, though, 零 goes in — 七點零五分, five past seven — or the two numbers run together and stop being readable.

Two o’clock is 兩點

The number two takes its 兩 form here, exactly as it does before a measure word. 點 is behaving like one.

Twelve o’clock keeps 二, because inside a larger number 二 stays: 十二點.

Half past, quarters, and “to”

半 is half and goes after 點. 刻 is a quarter of an hour. 差 means short of and, unlike everything else here, comes first.

差五分八點 is literally short by five minutes of eight o’clock, and the shortfall is stated before the hour it falls short of. 八點差五分 is also said and means the same thing.

Morning and afternoon

There is no am and pm. A word for the part of the day goes in front of the time, and it is used far more often than English uses in the morning.

上午 is the late morning, 中午 midday, 下午 the afternoon, 晚上 the evening.

Dates

Year, then month, then day — largest to smallest, like everything else. 號 is the spoken form of the day and 日 the written one.

Months are numbered rather than named: 一月 is January, 十二月 December. So is the week — 星期一 is Monday, week one, through 星期六. Sunday breaks the pattern and is 星期天 or 星期日.

Dates and times take 是, clock times often do not

A date is a noun and gets 是. A clock time behaves more like a time word, and usually attaches straight to the verb with no 是 at all — which is the pattern time before the verb describes.