Time

[jadeblomma]

How common is it for Chinese to say for instance 十四点钟 instead of 两点钟?

When greeting someone in the morning I know you can say 早上好! Is that used the whole morning, or can one at 10 a.m. for instance say 上午好!? Are 上午好, 中午好 and/or 下午好 even used?

[skylee]

I think 十四點鐘 is not common at all. Is it common for English speakers to say fourteen thirty instead of two thirty?

I don't think 上午好, 中午好, 下午好 are used. I usually just use 你好.

[xiaoxiaocao]

I have only heard it used when booking train/plane tickets over the phone. Never in casual conversation.

[SOFTRAIN]

Terms such as 十四點三十 and fourteen thirty are used in the military. They do say 十四點 in the Chinese army.

In everyday conversation, you'd just say 两点钟 or 两点. The usual greetings are:

Good morning. 早, 早安, 您早 (polite form)

How are you? 你好嗎? 您好嗎?

Good afternoon. 午安. 你好! 您好!

Good evening. 你好! 您好!

Good night. 晚安.

[xtasy]

"两点" is most appropriate. "两点钟" sounds tedious. "十四点" is likely only used when it refers to some sort of (scientific/military) data.

Use "早"， "早上好" in the morning, and I think "早" is better as it sounds not that formal as "早上好". And there's an example: if you are an employee you tend to say "早上好" to you boss, whereas you boss tends to greet you back with only a "早", which means on certain occasions there is a sense of hierarchy between the two expressions. So "早" sounds nicer. Also I suggest never to use "您早" because it sounds really obsequious. And avoid using "早安" because it sounds a bit feminine...

Either "早上好" or "上午好" is OK in later morning.

"下午好" is appropriate in the afternoon, but "中午好" is rarely used.

"晚上好" is appropriate in the evening. "晚安" is usually used 1) as "goodbye" to somebody at night, and 2) before one of you who are in a conversation is going to sleep.

[skylee]

"上午好" is OK in later morning.

"下午好" is appropriate in the afternoon,

Really? People really say them?

[xiaocai]

In mainland they do, sometimes, such as on business telephone calls.

[renzhe]

They do say 十四點 in the Chinese army.

Do they say 十三点?

[WestTexas]

I don't hear people say the Chinese equivalents of good morning, good afternoon, good evening very often at all. 晚安 for good night is more common, but obviously that's not a greeting.

[skylee]

I think good morning is quite common.

[WestTexas]

People say 早晨好, but I've never heard anyone say 上午好 or 下午好. Not that I remember anyways.

[skylee]

but I've never heard anyone say 上午好 or 下午好. Not that I remember anyways.

I agree. But please see #7.

[rezaf]

As far as I know 早上好，上午好，下午好 are VERY common but 早晨好 isn't very common, probably have never heard anyone say it. I just remember it from one of my textbooks at beginner level but even at that time my teacher said that we should use 早上好。

[imron]

For morning greetings, the thing I would hear most often was just 早 or 早啊。