Conversational Mandarin Chinese Quiz: Date And Time Expressions
8 questions · exam conditions
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Date And Time ExpressionsQuestion 1 of 8

A shopkeeper says: '这双鞋子原来要三百六，但是今天特别优惠，便宜五十五块。'

The customer wants to confirm the final price in Mandarin. Which sentence correctly states what the customer will pay?

好的，那就是两百九十五块，对吧？
好的，那就是两百八十五块，对吧？
好的，那就是三百零五块，对吧？
好的，那就是两百六十五块，对吧？
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Conversational Mandarin Chinese Quiz

Conversational Mandarin Chinese Quiz: Date And Time Expressions

Practice Date And Time Expressions in Conversational Mandarin Chinese with focused quiz questions that help you check what you know, review explanations, and build confidence with test-style prompts.

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on Date And Time Expressions, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for Conversational Mandarin Chinese.

How to use this quiz

Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

All questions

Question 1

A shopkeeper says: '这双鞋子原来要三百六，但是今天特别优惠，便宜五十五块。'

The customer wants to confirm the final price in Mandarin. Which sentence correctly states what the customer will pay?

  1. 好的，那就是两百九十五块，对吧？
  2. 好的，那就是两百八十五块，对吧？
  3. 好的，那就是三百零五块，对吧？ (correct answer)
  4. 好的，那就是两百六十五块，对吧？
Explanation: When a shopkeeper offers a discount in Mandarin, your job is to subtract the discount from the original price — but first, you need to parse the numbers correctly from spoken Mandarin. The original price is 三百六 (sānbǎi liù), which is shorthand for 三百六十块 — 360 yuan. The discount is 便宜五十五块 — 55 yuan off. So the final price is: 360−55=305 yuan360 - 55 = 305 \text{ yuan} That makes C) 好的，那就是三百零五块，对吧？ the correct confirmation. Notice the word 零 (líng) in 三百零五, which is required in Mandarin when a zero placeholder appears in the middle of a number — here, there are no tens, so you must say 三百零五, not 三百五. Choice A) gives 两百九十五 (295), which is the result of subtracting 65 instead of 55 — a simple arithmetic slip. Choice B) gives 两百八十五 (285), which would mean the discount was 75 yuan, not 55. Choice D) gives 两百六十五 (265), as if the discount were a full 95 yuan — a much larger error likely caused by misreading 三百六 as 360 but then subtracting incorrectly, or misreading the original price entirely. A key study tip: watch for shorthand prices like 三百六 or 两百五 in Mandarin — they almost always drop the 十, meaning "360" and "250" respectively. Misreading these truncated numbers is the most common trap in Mandarin price-related listening questions.

Question 2

A Mandarin speaker says: '这件衬衫要两百二十块五毛。'

A foreign customer is trying to write down the price. Which written price correctly matches what was said?

  1. ¥220.05
  2. ¥222.50
  3. ¥220.50 (correct answer)
  4. ¥202.50
Explanation: When converting spoken Mandarin prices to written numbers, you need to recognize how Chinese handles each monetary unit: 块 (kuài) = yuan (the whole unit), 毛 (máo) = 1/10 of a yuan (i.e., 10 cents), and 分 (fēn) = 1/100 of a yuan (1 cent). Breaking down '两百二十块五毛': 两百二十 means 220, so you have 220 yuan. Then 五毛 means 5 máo, which equals 50 cents (¥0.50). Putting it together: ¥220.50 — which is answer C, the correct choice. Here's why each distractor trips students up. A (¥220.05) confuses 毛 with 分 — placing the 5 in the cents column rather than the dimes column. If the speaker had said 五分, then you'd write ¥220.05. B (¥222.50) misreads 二十 as contributing an extra "2" to the yuan figure, perhaps by over-parsing the digits instead of reading 两百二十 as a single number (220). D (¥202.50) drops the tens digit entirely, treating 二十 as a zero placeholder — a misparse that turns 220 into 202. A useful strategy: always parse the Chinese number in full before converting to digits. Treat 两百二十 as one chunk meaning "220," then handle the fractional units (毛, 分) separately as decimal places. On this exam, the most common trap is mixing up 毛 (tenths place) and 分 (hundredths place), so drilling those two units will protect you on any price-related listening question.

Question 3

Li Ming tells his friend: '我家住在北京路二零八号，三单元，五零二室。'

Which address did Li Ming give?

  1. 208 Beijing Road, Building 3, Unit 502 (correct answer)
  2. 280 Beijing Road, Building 3, Unit 502
  3. 208 Beijing Road, Building 5, Unit 302
  4. 208 Beijing Road, Building 3, Unit 520
Explanation: When listening to Chinese addresses, you need to track several distinct components in sequence: street number, building/unit (单元, dānyuán), and room number (室, shì). The digits are read individually in conversational Mandarin, so 二零八 means 2-0-8, or 208 — not rearranged or combined differently. Breaking down Li Ming's address: 北京路二零八号 = 208 Beijing Road (二零八 = 2, 0, 8); 三单元 = Unit/Building 3 (三 = 3); 五零二室 = Room 502 (五零二 = 5, 0, 2). That gives you 208 Beijing Road, Building 3, Unit 502 — which is answer A, the correct choice. Choice B swaps the digits of the street number, reading it as 280 instead of 二零八 (208). This is a classic digit-reversal trap — don't reorder what you hear. Choice C misreads 三单元 as "Building 5" and 五零二室 as "Room 302," essentially swapping the leading digits between the two components. Choice D correctly identifies the street and building but reverses the room number digits, reading 五零二 as 520 instead of 502 — another digit-order error. The key study tip here: in Chinese addresses, each digit is spoken individually and in strict order. When you hear a string of numbers, resist the urge to mentally rearrange them. Practice writing down digits as you hear them — 五零二 → 5, 0, 2 → 502 — rather than trying to interpret the whole number at once. This habit will protect you from all three distractors.

Question 4

Wang Fang is giving her phone number to a new colleague over the phone. She says: '我的手机号是一三八，零零五七，九二六四。' The colleague mishears and writes down a number.

Which of the following phone numbers did Wang Fang actually give?

  1. 138-0057-9264 (correct answer)
  2. 138-0075-9264
  3. 138-0057-9246
  4. 138-0507-9264
Explanation: When listening to phone numbers in Mandarin, your job is to map each spoken syllable directly to a digit — any swap or reordering means a wrong number. Wang Fang says: 一三八，零零五七，九二六四, which translates digit-by-digit to 1-3-8, 0-0-5-7, 9-2-6-4, making the full number 138-0057-9264. That confirms A is correct. Now let's see exactly how each wrong answer tries to trick you. B (138-0075-9264) swaps 五 (5) and 七 (7) in the middle segment, reversing "五七" to "七五" — a classic mishearing trap since 五 and 七 can blur together in fast speech. C (138-0057-9246) keeps the first two segments correct but reverses the final two digits, turning 六四 (6-4) into 四六 (4-6) — another transposition error in the last cluster. D (138-0507-9264) moves the 五 one position earlier in the middle segment, producing "零五零七" instead of "零零五七" — this reflects mishearing the placement of a digit within a group. Notice that all three distractors involve transpositions — digits are present but in the wrong order — rather than substituting entirely different numbers. This is the core trap in phone number listening questions. Your study tip: when practicing number dictation in Mandarin, train yourself to write digits in real time as you hear them, left to right, without mentally "holding" a chunk. Distractors on this exam almost always rearrange digits within a segment rather than replace them outright.

Question 5

A Mandarin speaker leaves a voicemail: '请回电话给我，我的号码是一三九，八八零六，四七七二。如果打不通，可以发短信到这个号码。'

A listener plays the voicemail twice because they are unsure about the middle four digits. Which of the following correctly identifies the complete phone number AND the middle four digits specifically?

  1. 139-8860-4772; the middle four digits are 8860, because 零 comes before 六 in that segment.
  2. 139-8806-4772; the middle four digits are 8806. (correct answer)
  3. 139-8806-4772; the middle four digits are 8060, because 零 is always placed after the first digit of any four-digit group.
  4. 139-8806-4727; the middle four digits are 8806, but the last group ends in 二七 rather than 七二.
Explanation: When listening to phone numbers in Mandarin, you need to map each spoken digit or word directly onto its numeral — in the exact order you hear it — without rearranging anything. The middle four digits here are spoken as 八八零六 (bā bā líng liù), which translates straightforwardly to 8-8-0-6, giving you 8806. The full number is therefore 139-8806-4772, making B the correct answer. Now let's look at where the other choices go wrong. A gives you 8860 as the middle segment, which would require 八八六零 — but that's not what was said. The speaker clearly says 零 (zero) before 六 (six), not after. Swapping those two digits is exactly the kind of mishearing the question is testing. C makes the same digit-ordering error (producing 8060 instead of 8806), and compounds it with a false grammatical rule — there is no Mandarin convention that forces 零 to appear "after the first digit" in a four-digit group. Digits in phone numbers are simply read one at a time, in sequence. D gets the middle segment right (8806) but then scrambles the final group: the speaker says 四七七二, which is 4-7-7-2, not 4-7-2-7. Reversing the last two digits is another classic listening trap. Study tip: When practicing phone numbers in Mandarin, train yourself to write each digit down as you hear it, left to right, without "correcting" the order. Mandarin phone numbers are read digit by digit, so trust the sequence.

Question 6

During a phone call, a receptionist reads out a fax number: '传真号码是零一零，六六七八，五五零九。'

A colleague needs to send a fax and writes the number on a sticky note. Which version is correct?

  1. 010-6687-5509
  2. 010-6768-5509
  3. 010-6678-5590
  4. 010-6678-5509 (correct answer)
Explanation: When listening to numbers read aloud in Mandarin, your job is essentially transcription — you must map each spoken syllable to its correct digit without reordering or mishearing any of them. This question tests exactly that careful one-to-one matching. The receptionist says: 零一零，六六七八，五五零九 — breaking that down digit by digit gives you 0-1-0, 6-6-7-8, 5-5-0-9, which formats as 010-6678-5509. That's answer D, the correct choice. Now let's see where each wrong answer goes astray. Answer A (010-6687-5509) swaps the last two digits of the middle block — it writes 6687 instead of 6678, reversing 七八 (qī bā) into 八七. This is a classic transposition error, easy to make if you're writing quickly and lose your place. Answer B (010-6768-5509) scrambles the middle block even more, writing 6768 instead of 6678 — it moves the first 六 to a different position and misplaces 七, suggesting the listener confused the order of multiple digits simultaneously. Answer C (010-6678-5590) gets the middle block right but trips up at the very end, writing 5590 instead of 5509 — it swaps 零九 (líng jiǔ) for 九零, another transposition where the listener reversed the final two digits. A useful strategy: when transcribing spoken numbers in Mandarin, mentally "chunk" each group as the speaker pauses. The natural breaks (indicated by commas in speech) tell you where one group ends and another begins. Write each chunk immediately after hearing it — don't hold multiple chunks in memory at once, as that's when transpositions happen.

Question 7

A real estate agent describes an apartment: '这套公寓的门牌号是幸福小区，十二栋，零三零一室，月租金是四千五百元。'

Which of the following correctly identifies BOTH the apartment number and the monthly rent?

  1. Apartment 0310 in Building 12; ¥4,500/month
  2. Apartment 1203 in Building 01; ¥4,500/month
  3. Apartment 0301 in Building 12; ¥45,000/month
  4. Apartment 0301 in Building 12; ¥4,500/month (correct answer)
Explanation: When reading Chinese apartment addresses, you need to parse each component in sequence: the complex name, building number (栋), and unit number (室). The monthly rent (月租金) requires careful number reading to avoid confusing thousands and ten-thousands. The passage states '十二栋' (building 12), '零三零一室' (unit 0301), and '四千五百元' (¥4,500). Breaking down '零三零一': 零=0, 三=3, 零=0, 一=1 — giving you apartment 0301. For the rent, '四千五百' means 4×1,000 + 5×100 = 4,500 yuan. This confirms D as correct: Building 12, Apartment 0301, ¥4,500/month. A gets the rent right but misreads the unit number as 0310 — a reversal of the last two digits (零一 becomes 10 instead of 01). This is a classic digit-transposition trap. B completely scrambles the address structure, treating 1203 as the unit and 01 as the building — essentially reading the numbers backward and splitting them incorrectly. C correctly identifies Building 12 and Apartment 0301, but misreads '四千五百' as ¥45,000. This is a place-value error: confusing 四千五百 (4,500) with 四万五千 (45,000) — notice that 万 (10,000) never appears in the passage. A good study habit: when you see Chinese unit numbers like 零三零一, read each digit individually rather than grouping them as regular numbers. And for large sums, always identify whether 万 (10,000) is present before assigning place value — its absence is just as meaningful as its presence.

Question 8

Chen Wei reads his new work ID number aloud to HR: '我的工号是零零三六七。'

The HR staff member needs to type the ID number. Which entry is correct, and which rule about reading Chinese number strings applies here?

  1. 367; leading zeros in Chinese number strings are dropped because 零 at the start of a number is always silent in formal speech.
  2. 00367; each digit is read individually as a string, so leading zeros are preserved and spoken as 零. (correct answer)
  3. 00376; the digits 六 and 七 are transposed because 七 always precedes 六 in standard ID formatting.
  4. 30067; 三 is inserted because 零零三 is conventionally shortened by moving the non-zero digit to the front of the string.
Explanation: When Chinese speakers read out number strings — such as phone numbers, ID numbers, employee codes, or serial numbers — they treat each digit as an individual unit rather than reading the sequence as a mathematical value. This is the key distinction to keep in mind: a number string is not the same as a number with quantity. Because Chen Wei says "零零三六七," he is reading five individual digits: 零(0), 零(0), 三(3), 六(6), 七(7). The HR staff member should therefore type 00367, making B the correct answer. Every spoken digit maps directly to a typed character, including the leading zeros. Here's why the other options fail. A incorrectly claims leading zeros are "dropped" or "silent" — this would only apply if someone were reading a quantity (e.g., 367 apples), but in a digit-string context, 零 is fully pronounced and must be preserved. C claims that 六 and 七 are transposed by some formatting convention — no such rule exists in Mandarin or standard ID systems; the digits are simply read left to right as spoken. D invents a fictitious rule about "moving non-zero digits to the front," which has no basis in Chinese number-reading conventions whatsoever. A useful strategy: whenever a question involves IDs, phone numbers, bank accounts, or codes in Mandarin, mentally switch into "digit-by-digit" mode. Each syllable = one digit, and zeros count. This rule consistently appears on conversational-Mandarin assessments, so recognizing the string-vs-quantity distinction will save you from the leading-zero trap every time.