【Learn Chinese】Chinese Measure Words: Time

These are definitely some important measure words to learn. Be careful though, as some of them are only used in writing, and aren’t really used in spoken Chinese.
 
秒 miǎo – Second. Example: 一秒钟 yī miǎo zhōng – One second
分 fēn – Minute. Example: 一分钟 yī fēnzhōng – One minute
天 tiān – Day, Example: 一天 yī tiān – One day
日 rì – Day. Example: 一日 yī rì – One day (used in written form)
周 zhōu – Week. Example: 一周 yī zhōu – One week (used in written form)
年 nián – Year. Example: 一年 yī nián – One year
代 dài – Era, generation. Example: 上一代 shàng yí dài – The previous generation
次 cì – Time. Example: 一次 yī cì – Once
 
Some words that indicate an amount of time can’t be used on their own and need to have the measure word 个 gè used as part of them:
一个小时 yī gè xiǎoshí – One hour
一个星期 yī gè xīngqí – One week
一个月 yī gè yuè – One month
一个年代 yī gè niándài – One decade
一个世纪 yī gè shìjì – One century