TraceHanzi

中午 meaning in English

zhōngwǔ

noon; midday

HSK 1noun8 strokes

Meaning of 中午

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

zhōngwǔ
  1. noon
  2. midday

Measure word: 個|个

How to use 中午

中午 refers to the time around noon, roughly 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and is often used when talking about lunch or a midday break. It usually goes before the verb as a time word. Example: 我中午吃午饭。(Wǒ zhōngwǔ chī wǔfàn.) I eat lunch at noon.

中 (zhōng) means middle and 午 (wǔ) is the midday part of the day you also see in 上午 and 下午. Put them together and 中午 is the very middle of the day: noon.

Common mistake: Learners often put 中午 at the end of the sentence like English, saying 我吃饭中午. In Chinese the time word comes before the verb: 我中午吃饭. Also keep the tones straight: zhōng is first tone and wǔ is third tone.

中午 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

中zhōng午wǔ到dào达dá那nà里lǐ是shì不bù可kě能néng的de。
It's impossible to get there by noon.
她tā在zài中zhōng午wǔ打dǎ了le电diàn话huà给gěi我wǒ。
She called me at noon.
你nǐ中zhōng午wǔ十shí二èr点diǎn吃chī午wǔ饭fàn吗ma？
Do you have lunch at 12 p.m.?
明míng天tiān中zhōng午wǔ他tā们men不bù在zài学xué校xiào。
They will not be at school tomorrow afternoon.
直zhí到dào快kuài要yào中zhōng午wǔ前qián他tā都dōu没méi出chū现xiàn。
He did not appear until about noon.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

中 zhōng · within · 4 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4

午 wǔ · noon · 4 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4

Related words

Words that share a character with 中午.

中国ZhōngguóChina
下午xiàwǔafternoon; p.m.
中间zhōngjiānthe middle; the inside; in the middle; within; between; among
午饭wǔfànlunch
上午shàngwǔmorning
中学zhōngxuémiddle school
中文ZhōngwénChinese language
中学生zhōngxuéshēngmiddle-school student; high school student
其中qízhōngamong; in
中心zhōngxīncenter; heart; core
高中gāozhōngsenior high school (abbr. for 高級中學|高级中学[gao1 ji2 zhong1 xue2])
午餐wǔcānlunch; luncheon

Questions about 中午

What does 中午 mean?

中午 (zhōngwǔ) means "noon; midday" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 中午?

中午 is made of 2 characters: 中 (4 strokes), 午 (4 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.

Is 中午 an HSK word?

Yes. 中午 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 中午, 上午 and 下午?

上午 (shàngwǔ) is the morning before noon, 中午 (zhōngwǔ) is the noon period itself, and 下午 (xiàwǔ) is the afternoon. Together they divide the daytime into three parts.

How do I say 12 o'clock noon exactly?

You can say 中午十二点 (zhōngwǔ shí'èr diǎn). Putting 中午 before the clock time makes it clear you mean midday and not midnight.

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