Does 兩點九 mean 2:09 or 2:45?

Question

I heard somebody using 兩點九 and I thought he means 2:09. Actually, by 兩點九 he means 兩點九個字, or 2:45.

Does 兩點九 have two different meanings? Or does it always mean 2:45?

score 11 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 12 '22 at 22:04

11

Does 兩點九 have two different meanings? Or does it always mean 2:45?

It does not have two different meanings. It means 2:45.

We can also say 兩點四十五分。 In fact, it's more direct to say 兩點四十五分, if we're looking at a digital clock, since this is what is displayed. With a traditional clock with two hands and 12 numbers each representing a 5-minute period, 兩點九 or 兩點九個字 is more direct.

2:09 is 兩點零九分。

answered Jan 12 '22 at 22:04

monalisa

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In old Cantonese, 兩點三個骨 is also 2:45 (三個骨 = 3 quarters) – Tang Ho Jan 12 '22 at 22:12
Thanks! Then how about 兩點十一？ 2:11 or 2:55? – Zuriel Jan 12 '22 at 22:14
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兩點十一 = 2:55; 兩點零十一分 = 2:11 – Tang Ho Jan 12 '22 at 22:16
2:11 is also 兩點十一分. – monalisa Jan 12 '22 at 22:29
This is must be a mainland China way of telling time, which I've never heard of it. – r13 Jan 13 '22 at 00:16
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@r13 It's Cantonese. – monalisa Jan 13 '22 at 00:21
@monalisa Cantonese only? – r13 Jan 13 '22 at 00:28
兩點九 is definitely Cantonese. 二時四十五分 would be the Mandarin way. I suspect only Cantonese would say 兩點半 (2:30) Mandarin would not say 二時半. Cantonese also say 兩點搭九 (2:45) – Tang Ho Jan 13 '22 at 00:31
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@TangHo Mandarin speakers say 兩點半 too. – monalisa Jan 13 '22 at 06:11
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Mandarin speakers say also 两点三刻 (兩點三刻). – Joe at wearyourchinesename.com Jan 13 '22 at 07:28

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 13 '22 at 07:36

兩點九 is in traditional-chinese, with the missing characher "分" , implies Cantonese way of timing.

traditional-chinese is mainly used in HongKong/Taiwan/Macau.

simplified-chinese is used in mainland China.

Cantonese way of timing is used in HongKong/Macau and southern part of mainland China.

fuzzy and confusing ,are'nt they? a small table may help.

time\lang	traditional-chinese(zh-hk)	simplified-chinese(zh-cn)	traditional-chinese(zh-tw)
2:45	兩點九[個字]	两点四十五[分]	not sure
Cantonese 2:45		两点九[个字]	not sure
2:09	兩點零九分	两点零九[分]	not sure

letters in () are utf-8 coding reference;

charachers in [] can be omitted.

Does 兩點九 mean 2:09 or 2:45?

2 Answers2