Getting up and going to bed
HSK 1 Unit 3: Days and routines · Lesson 3 of 5 · About 16 minutes
Preview version — Chinese review in progress.
Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can describe your daily routine with meals and sleep, and put time, place and action in the right order with 在.
Audio preview uses your device’s Chinese voice. It is not a recording.
Warm-up: do you remember?
Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.
Meaning
What does 早上 mean?
That is 分 (fēn).
That is 儿子 (érzi).
Show the answer
Answer: B, (early) morning.
早上 (zǎoshang) means (early) morning.
Characters
Which word means “evening, night”?
工作 (gōngzuò) means work, job, to work.
儿子 (érzi) means son.
Show the answer
Answer: A, 晚上.
“evening, night” is 晚上 (wǎnshang).
Listening
From an earlier unit. Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
它 tā
That would be 姐姐 (jiějie).
That would be 妹妹 (mèimei).
Show the answer
Answer: A, it (an animal or thing).
You heard 它 (tā): it (an animal or thing).
New words
Time, place, action
A Chinese sentence about your day follows a fixed order: who, when, where, then what you do.
| Part | Example |
|---|---|
| who | 我 |
| when | 七点 |
| where | 在家 |
| what | 吃早饭 |
我七点在家吃早饭。
Wǒ qī diǎn zài jiā chī zǎofàn.
I have breakfast at home at seven.
在 + place goes before the verb.
Not:
我吃早饭在家。But: 我在家吃早饭。 Wǒ zài jiā chī zǎofàn.
The place goes before the verb, not after.
Not:
我起床七点。But: 我七点起床。 Wǒ qī diǎn qǐchuáng.
The time goes before the verb too.
Meals and sleep
饭 (fàn) is a meal. The three meals are 早饭, 午饭 and 晚饭: the morning meal, the noon meal and the evening meal.
你几点睡觉？
Nǐ jǐ diǎn shuìjiào?
What time do you go to bed?
真早！
Zhēn zǎo!
So early!
Characters
- 床 = 木
- 睡 = 目
Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.
So early!
Anna asks Chen Jing about her routine.
Listen first
Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.
Listening
Listen first. When does Chen Jing get up?
Show the answer
Answer: B, 6:30.
陈静 says 我六点半起床: 6:30.
Listening
Where does Chen Jing have breakfast?
安娜 asks about home, but 陈静 says 不.
Show the answer
Answer: B, at the office.
陈静 says 我在公司吃早饭: at the office.
Show the transcript
安娜
陈静，你早上几点起床？
Chen Jing, what time do you get up in the morning?
陈静
我六点半起床。
I get up at half past six.
安娜
真早！你在家吃早饭吗？
So early! Do you have breakfast at home?
陈静
不，我在公司吃早饭。
No, I have breakfast at the office.
安娜
你晚上几点睡觉？
What time do you go to bed?
陈静
十点半。你呢？
Half past ten. And you?
安娜
我十二点睡觉！
I go to bed at twelve!
Speak: listen, record, compare
Listen to each model, record yourself, then play both and compare: the rhythm, the tones, the vowels. No automatic score: your ear is the judge.
Recordings stay in this browser tab: nothing is uploaded, and they disappear when you leave the page unless you save a copy of a task recording to your device yourself. Your browser asks for the microphone first.
Recording is not available in this browser. Listen, then repeat aloud and compare by ear.
不，我在公司吃早饭。
Bù, wǒ zài gōngsī chī zǎofàn.
No, I have breakfast at the office.
真早！你在家吃早饭吗？
Zhēn zǎo! Nǐ zài jiā chī zǎofàn ma?
So early! Do you have breakfast at home?
陈静，你早上几点起床？
Chén Jìng, nǐ zǎoshang jǐ diǎn qǐchuáng?
Chen Jing, what time do you get up in the morning?
Practice
Meaning
What does 起床 mean?
That is 在 (zài).
That is 哪 (nǎ).
Show the answer
Answer: B, to get up.
起床 (qǐchuáng) means to get up.
Characters
Which word means “to sleep, to go to bed”?
起床 (qǐchuáng) means to get up.
晚饭 (wǎnfàn) means dinner.
Show the answer
Answer: A, 睡觉.
“to sleep, to go to bed” is 睡觉 (shuìjiào).
Pinyin
How do you read 早饭 (breakfast)?
Show the answer
Answer: C, zǎofàn.
早饭 is read zǎofàn. Check the tone mark on every syllable.
Listening
Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
午饭 wǔfàn
That would be 朋友 (péngyou).
That would be 岁 (suì).
Show the answer
Answer: B, lunch.
You heard 午饭 (wǔfàn): lunch.
Pinyin
Type the pinyin of 晚饭 (dinner). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.
Show the answer
Answer: wǎnfàn
晚饭 is wǎnfàn in pinyin.
Grammar
Which sentence means I have lunch at the office?
在 + place goes before the verb.
Show the answer
Answer: A, 我在公司吃午饭。.
我在公司吃午饭。 Place before the verb.
Fill the gap
Complete: I go to bed at eleven.
我十一点＿＿。
起床 is to get up.
Show the answer
Answer: B, 睡觉.
我十一点睡觉。 睡觉 is to go to bed.
Word order
Put the words in order: I have breakfast at home at seven.
- 在
- 我
- 七点
- 早饭
- 家
- 吃
Show the answer
我七点在家吃早饭 Wǒ qī diǎn zài jiā chī zǎofàn.
I have breakfast at home at seven.
我七点在家吃早饭。 Who, when, where, what.
Your turn
Type the Chinese for I get up at six (characters or pinyin).
Show the answer
Answer: 我六点起床
我六点起床: time before the verb.
Your morning
Describe your weekday morning and evening out loud in four sentences, then record yourself.
- Say when you get up.
- Say where and when you have breakfast.
- Say when you go to bed.
Sentence frames
我＿＿点起床。
Wǒ ＿＿ diǎn qǐchuáng.
I get up at ...
我在＿＿吃早饭。
Wǒ zài ＿＿ chī zǎofàn.
I have breakfast at ...
Record your attempt (three and a half minutes at most) and listen back:
Review and finish
Can you do this? If a line feels shaky, go back to that part before you move on.
- I say who, when, where, then the action.
- I can name the three meals.
- I can say when I get up and go to bed.
Review works best spaced out: answer these exercises again tomorrow, then after a few days. Your progress is saved in this browser.
Completing records that you finished the lesson. Mastery is separate: it grows as reviews bring the exercises back and you answer them correctly.