点 / 分 / 刻 / 半【diǎn / fēn / kè / bàn】

Clock time is built from diǎn点 for the hour and fēn分 for the minutes, largest unit first.

Minutes count forward through the hour, so "ten to seven" is 六点五十分. From ten minutes up, the 分 can drop: 三点二十.

To count down to the hour instead, put chā差 and the minutes in front of it.

Half and quarters

bàn半 is half past, yī一kè刻 a quarter past, and Sān三kè刻 three quarters past, so 六点三刻 is quarter to seven.

两点, not 二点

Two o'clock takes 两, because 点 counts like a measure word. The minutes keep 二, and so does 十二点.

• × 二点 → 两点

The time goes before the verb

Like 今天 and 明天, a clock time sits after the subject and before the verb, never at the end.

• × 我起床七点。 → 我七点起床。

上午, 下午 and 晚上 come before the hour: largest unit first again.

Asking

jǐ diǎn几点 asks the time, because the answer is a small number.