分钟/分鐘 fēnzhōng — minute (a length of time)

Meanings

1. 1

   minute (a length of time)

   A duration of sixty seconds — how long something lasts. The minute mark on a clock face is 分 on its own: 八点十分 is 8:10, while 十分钟 is ten minutes long.

   measure

Character breakdown

• 分

  fēn (first tone, high and level) fèn (fourth tone, falling)

  to divide, to separate; a minute; a fraction, a mark out of a hundred; a cent; (fèn) a share, a part, a component

  4 strokes⿱八刀Radical 刀

Example sentences

• 我学习了十分钟。/我學習了十分鐘。Wǒ (third tone, dipping) xuéxíle (second tone, rising) shí (second tone, rising) fēnzhōng. (first tone, high and level)···

  I studied for ten minutes.

• 我看了二十分钟电视。/我看了二十分鐘電視。Wǒ (third tone, dipping) kànle (fourth tone, falling) èrshí (fourth tone, falling) fēnzhōng (first tone, high and level) diànshì. (fourth tone, falling)···

  I watched twenty minutes of television.

Common mistakes

• Not quite我学习了十分。

  Correct我学习了十分钟。

  Use 分钟 for how long something took. 分 alone reads as the minute hand of a clock time, so 十分 is heard as "ten past".

Similar words

Words containing 分

• 分fēn (first tone, high and level)minute (in a clock time)