Level 2 · Lesson 13

八点上课
Class at eight

我早上八点上课，十点下课。

Telling the hour with 点 and 半, and putting the time before the verb.

听 · Listen

对话
 安娜 —  李明，你早上八点上课吗？ 
Li Ming, do you have class at eight in the morning?  
 李明 —  八点上课，十点下课。你呢？ 
Class at eight, out at ten. And you?  
 安娜 —  我下午三点上课，五点半下课。 
I have class at three in the afternoon and finish at half past five.  
 李明 —  你中午吃饭吗？ 
Do you eat at midday?  
 安娜 —  中午十二点吃饭。 
I eat at twelve.  
 李明 —  我也十二点吃饭！ 
I eat at twelve too!  
 安娜 —  现在七点五十分，我去学校。 
It's seven fifty now — I'm off to school.  
 李明 —  好，我也去。 
Good, I'm going too.  

讲解 · Explanation

我八点上课。我早上八点上课。

A clock time sits in the same slot as 早上 and 晚上 from lesson nine: after the subject, before the verb. 我八点上课 is right; 我上课八点 is not Chinese at all. When you give two time words together, the bigger unit comes first — 早上八点, 下午三点, 晚上十点 — the same big-to-small habit you will meet again with dates.

八点。八点半。八点十分。

点 is the hour word: number + 点 gives the whole hour, 三点, 十点, 十二点. 半 is 'half', and it follows the hour: 八点半 is 8:30. 分 is 'minute': 八点十分 is 8:10, 七点五十分 is 7:50. One warning for later — two o'clock is not 二点 but 两点 liǎng diǎn, with a different word for 'two' that you will meet properly further on.

你八点上课吗？我八点上课。

To ask about a time for now, name the hour you suspect and add 吗: 你八点上课吗？ The open question 'what time?' needs a word that arrives in the next level, so stay with 吗 here — it is what a real speaker uses anyway once they can guess the answer. 上课 and 下课 are learned whole: 上课 is to go to class or start class, 下课 is class ending. Answer a 吗 question by repeating the verb, not by saying yes: 八点上课。

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
点	o'clock	八点 = 8:00
半	half	follows the hour: 八点半 = 8:30
分	minute	八点十分 = 8:10
上课	to have class, class begins
下课	class ends, to finish class

练习 · Practice

现在八点，你上课。你说什么？ It is eight and you have class. Which sentence is correct?

七点三十分，也说七点______。 7:30 is also said as seven ______.

排一排。 Arrange: 'I have class at eight in the morning.'

现在十二点。你说什么？ It is twelve o'clock — say that you eat at midday.

点、半、分、上课、下课 Match each item to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

我早上七点起床，八点上课，十点下课，中午十二点吃饭。

Say your own morning aloud in the same shape: the time word first, the verb after it, one clause per event. Give four times at least — when you get up, when you start work or class, when you finish, when you eat. Then ask a friend about theirs with 吗: 你八点上课吗？你十二点吃饭吗？