Fluentide
HSK 1

分钟

minute (duration)

nounneutral1 episode
fēn1st tone
zhōng1st tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
fēnzhōng
Part of speech
noun
Level
HSK 1
Strokes
13
Register
neutral
In episodes
1

Stroke order for 分钟

分钟 is written with 13 strokes (: 4, : 9). The animation replays automatically.

What does 分钟 mean?

分钟 (fēnzhōng) is the Chinese word for 'minute' as a duration — the unit of time, not a point on the clock.

Use it whenever you're measuring how long something takes: 五分钟 'five minutes,' 等一分钟 'wait a minute.' The key difference from English: when you tell the clock time, Chinese drops and just uses — '3:15' is 三点十五分, never 三点十五分钟. So alone names a clock minute; 分钟 names a span of minutes.

Also note that 分钟 is itself a noun acting like a unit, so you never need an extra measure word: say 五分钟, not 五个分钟. The character (originally 'bell / clock') is also the second character in 钟表 'clock' and 时钟 'wall clock.'

Character by character

fēnto divide; a unit; a minute
+
zhōngbell; clock
=
分钟

Memory hook: 分 (divide) + 钟 (clock) — a 'division of the clock' is a minute.

Hear 分钟 in real episodes

分钟 appears in 1 Fluentide podcast episode at natural native speed — each with the full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.

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Example sentences

请等五分钟。

Qǐng děng wǔ fēnzhōng.

Please wait five minutes.

neutral

我十分钟以后到。

Wǒ shí fēnzhōng yǐhòu dào.

I'll arrive in ten minutes.

spoken

这个电影一百二十分钟。

Zhège diànyǐng yìbǎi èrshí fēnzhōng.

This movie is 120 minutes long.

neutral

你几分钟可以吃完?

Nǐ jǐ fēnzhōng kěyǐ chī wán?

In how many minutes can you finish eating?

spoken

Common phrases with 分钟

几分钟jǐ fēnzhōnghow many minutes? / a few minutes
五分钟wǔ fēnzhōngfive minutes
等一分钟děng yì fēnzhōngwait a minute
半分钟bàn fēnzhōnghalf a minute
十分钟以后shí fēnzhōng yǐhòuten minutes later

Don't confuse 分钟 with

fēn

alone tells clock time: 三点二十分 ('3:20'). 分钟 is the duration: 二十分钟 ('20 minutes long'). Don't say 三点二十分钟.

小时xiǎoshí

小时 means 'hour' (duration). 60分钟 = 1小时. Both are duration words; 分钟 is the smaller unit.

钟头zhōngtóu

钟头 is a colloquial synonym of 小时 (hour), not minute. Don't mix it up with 分钟.

FAQ

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