The nouns or noun phrases that express the time of day are called time expressions. Time expressions consist of two types. The first type is the exact time; the other one is for a period of time. If is used to express how long, it refers to the length of time. The key focus of this lesson is to learn how to express periods of time.
The phrases that express periods of time are frequently used as a time-measure complement.
yí kè zhōng èrshí fēnzhōng
一 刻 钟 二十 分钟
a quarter of an hour twenty minutes
bàn gè xiǎoshí yí gè xiǎoshí
半 个 小时 一 个 小时
half an hour an hour
yì tiān yí gèxīngqī
一 天 一 个星期
one day one week
yí gè yuè yì nián
一 个 月 一 年
one month one year
The phrases that express periods of time are frequently used as a time-measure complement.