Fluentide
Fluentide for iOS is out — get the app
HSK 1

中午

noon; midday

nounneutral
中
zhōng1st tone
午
wǔ3rd tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
zhōngwǔ
Part of speech
noun
Level
HSK 1
Strokes
8
Register
neutral

Stroke order for 中午

中午 is written with 8 strokes (中: 4, 午: 4). The animation replays automatically.

What does 中午 mean?

中午 (zhōngwǔ) means 'noon' or 'midday' — the time period in the middle of the day, roughly 11 a.m.

to 1 p.m., centered on 12 noon. Literally 'middle-noon,' it pairs with the other times of day every Mandarin learner needs: 早上 (morning), 上午 (late morning, before noon), 中午 (noon / lunch period), 下午 (afternoon), 晚上 (evening). A few practical notes. First, 中午 is the time block strongly associated with lunch — '中午吃什么' is asking 'what are you having for lunch'.

Second, 中午 functions as a time-when expression directly, no preposition needed: 我中午回家 (I'm going home at noon), not 在中午. Third, when telling clock time, 中午十二点 (zhōngwǔ shí'èr diǎn) is the standard way to say 'noon' / '12 p.m.', distinguishing it from 半夜十二点 (midnight). The character 午 by itself appears in 上午 and 下午 — together they form a clean three-part day.

Character by character

中zhōngmiddle; center
+
午wǔnoon; the 7th of the 12 earthly branches (associated with the horse and midday)
=
中午

Memory hook: 中 (middle) + 午 (noon-hour) = the middle of the day = noon.

Example sentences

中午我们一起吃饭吧。

Zhōngwǔ wǒmen yìqǐ chī fàn ba.

Let's have lunch together at noon.

spoken

我中午不在家。

Wǒ zhōngwǔ bú zài jiā.

I'm not home at noon.

neutral

今天中午很热。

Jīntiān zhōngwǔ hěn rè.

It's very hot at noon today.

spoken

明天中午十二点见。

Míngtiān zhōngwǔ shí'èr diǎn jiàn.

See you tomorrow at 12 noon.

neutral

Common phrases with 中午

中午好zhōngwǔ hǎogood afternoon (midday greeting)
中午吃饭zhōngwǔ chī fànhave lunch (at noon)
今天中午jīntiān zhōngwǔthis afternoon (around noon)
明天中午míngtiān zhōngwǔtomorrow at noon
中午十二点zhōngwǔ shí'èr diǎn12 noon

Synonyms

正午zhèngwǔ

正午 specifically means '12:00 sharp / high noon' and is more formal/literary. 中午 covers the broader noon period (roughly 11-1) and is everyday speech.

Don't confuse 中午 with

上午shàngwǔ

上午 is late morning (roughly 8 a.m.-11 a.m.), BEFORE noon. 中午 is the noon hour (around 12). Don't say 上午十二点 — that's wrong; noon is 中午十二点.

下午xiàwǔ

下午 is afternoon (roughly 1 p.m.-6 p.m.), AFTER noon. 中午 is the brief noon window between 上午 and 下午.

中文Zhōngwén

中文 means 'Chinese language' — shares the 中 (middle/China) character but completely different word. 中午 = noon; 中文 = Chinese.

FAQ

Acquire it by listening

Meet 中午 again — in real Chinese, at your level.

Fluentide turns real news into Chinese listening at your exact level, so words like 中午 show up again and again in natural sentences — with pinyin and translation every time. No flashcards. Free to start.