HSK 1 · Time

点 diǎn “o’clock” in Chinese

Traditional 點

What 点 means

  1. o’clock, dot
  2. to touch briefly
  3. to tap
  4. to mark with a dot
  5. to check off (on a list)
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to order (food etc)
  • to select
  • to mention
  • to bring up (a topic or person)
  • to hint at
  • to imply

How to say 点

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale点diǎn3rd tone, dipping

点 in a sentence

  1. 现在几点？

    Xiànzài jǐ diǎn?

    What time is it?

    Sentence #8293429 from Tatoeba

  2. 她七点起床。

    Tā qī diǎn qǐchuáng.

    She gets up at seven.

    Sentence #743100 from Tatoeba

  3. 两点可以。

    Liǎng diǎn kěyǐ.

    Two o’clock would be OK.

    Sentence #13839318 from Tatoeba

How 点 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 点 (diǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
点diǎnto touch briefly; to tap
  • 占to divine · zhānSound part
  • 灬fire form of 火 · huǒMeaning part

灬 hints at the meaning (fire); 占 (zhān) hints at the sound. Compare it with diǎn.

Memory aidSimplified from 點, a black 黑 dot. 占 (zhān) gives the sound.

How to write 点

点 9 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

点 (diǎn) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 点 (diǎn). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 点

Words with 点

一点儿yìdiǎnr · a little有点儿yǒudiǎnr · slightly晚点wǎndiǎn · (of trains地点dìdiǎn · place特点tèdiǎn · characteristic (feature)优点yōudiǎn · strong point缺点quēdiǎn · weak point重点zhòngdiǎn · key point点心diǎnxin · light refreshments观点guāndiǎn · point of view

More words: Time

明天míngtiān · tomorrow中午zhōngwǔ · noon昨天zuótiān · yesterday现在xiànzài · now分钟fēnzhōng · minute去年qùnián · last year日rì · day生日shēngrì · birthday

FAQs

点 (diǎn) means “o’clock, dot” or “to touch briefly”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it diǎn: diǎn with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 点 is written 點. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type dian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 点 from the suggestions. Typing dian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
点 is an HSK 1 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.