Zero in the time

Question

When you say the time, do natives usually say 一点零五 or 一点五?

I already tried asking Google, it gave me sites with different opinions

Thanks!

Answer 1

I am a northerner of China. I never heard someone ever saying "一点五" to express the time. 一点零五 is 1: 05.

In addition, units（such as 分） can be added after 一点五. For example: 一点五分 is 1:05.

Answer 2

From my personal use of the language, I never say 一点五 when speaking of time. I use 一点半 to refer to 1:30, and 一点零五 for 1: 05.

Answer 3

If you are not saying the minute under ten, but some other unit, I cannot think of a single time a zero is ever needed. At the same time, a zero is always needed saying the minutes under ten. Examples:

一點零五 1:05*

一點五十 1:50*

一點半 half past one/1:30

一點三刻 quarter til two/1:45

一點差五 five til one/12:55*

You will notice that that zero here is actually serving the same placeholder status it does in regular counting-- if you are not familiar with that yet, it will make extra sense when you have learned that in the future.

p.s. the word 分 is unneeded in all of these, but I have * the ones it could go with for emphasis, or if you were to continue listing seconds etc.

Answer 4

It is a bit Cantonese style.

一点零五 = 1:05

一点五 = 1:25