点
o'clock; dot; a little
HSK level
- Pinyin
- diǎn
- Part of speech
- measure word
- Level
- HSK 1
- Strokes
- 9
- Register
- neutral
- In episodes
- 1
Stroke order for 点
点 is written with 9 strokes. The animation replays automatically.
What does 点 mean?
点 (diǎn) is one of the busiest characters in HSK 1.
Its three core uses: (1) telling time on the hour — 三点 (sān diǎn) means 'three o'clock,' and you always use 点 for the hour slot, never 小时; (2) a small quantity, written 一点 / 一点儿 (yìdiǎn / yìdiǎnr), meaning 'a little / a bit,' as in 有点累 ('a bit tired') or 喝一点水 ('drink a little water'); (3) the literal sense of 'dot, point, spot.' English splits these meanings across different words ('o'clock,' 'a little,' 'dot'), but Chinese collapses them into one character whose context tells you which sense applies.
As a verb, 点 also means 'to order' (food at a restaurant) — 点菜 (diǎn cài). All these uses are everyday speech.
Memory hook: Four dots at the bottom = think 'tiny dots' = 'a little bit,' or a dot on the clock face = 'o'clock.'
Hear 点 in real episodes
点 appears in 1 Fluentide podcast episode at natural native speed. Each sentence plays at the easiest difficulty it exists in — switch it to hear the same moment at your level, with full pinyin and English throughout.
你看钟，就知道现在几点了。
You look at the clock, and you know what time it is.
Jun Ye's Atomic Clock Won't Lose a Second in 15 Billion Years. Now He Has Won the Wolf Prize, Often a Step Before the Nobel.
Example sentences
现在几点？
Xiànzài jǐ diǎn?
What time is it now?
spoken
我七点起床。
Wǒ qī diǎn qǐchuáng.
I get up at seven.
neutral
我有点累。
Wǒ yǒudiǎn lèi.
I'm a little tired.
spoken
请喝一点水。
Qǐng hē yìdiǎn shuǐ.
Please drink a little water.
polite
Common phrases with 点
Synonyms
Don't confuse 点 with
店 (diàn, 4th tone) means 'shop / store' — 书店 (bookstore), 饭店 (restaurant). 点 (diǎn, 3rd tone) means 'o'clock / dot.' Same pinyin syllable, different tone, totally different meanings.
钟 means 'clock' or appears in 分钟 ('minute') and 钟头 ('hour'). 点 marks the hour slot itself: 五点 = 5 o'clock, 五分钟 = 5 minutes. Don't mix the two.
Frequently asked questions
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
Meet 点 again — in real Chinese, at your level.
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