How to say what time it is
Being able to tell the time is a useful skill in a foreign language. To ask what time it is in German, you can say: Wie sp盲t ist es? This literally means 鈥榟ow late is it?鈥
To answer, say es ist (it is), followed by the number of the hour, and then Uhr (辞鈥檆濒辞肠办). Uhr also means clock or watch.
- Es ist acht Uhr - It is eight o'clock (it is 08:00).
- Es ist zw枚lf Uhr - It is 12 o'clock (it is 12:00).
Remember: To say 鈥榠t is one o'clock鈥, say es ist ein Uhr, not eins Uhr.
24-hour clock
Most people use the 24-clock in German. So, three o'clock in the morning is drei Uhr (03:00) and three 辞鈥檆濒辞肠办 in the afternoon is 蹿眉苍蹿锄别丑苍 Uhr (15:00).
- Es ist dreizehn Uhr - It is 13:00.
- Es ist zwanzig Uhr - It is 20:00.
- Es ist dreiundzwanzig Uhr - It is 23:00.
Quarter past, half past and quarter to
To say quarter past and quarter to the hour, start with the hour and then add the number of minutes:
Es ist zwei Uhr 蹿眉苍蹿锄别丑苍 - It is quarter past two (02:15).
Es ist zwanzig Uhr 诲谤别颈脽颈驳 - It is eight thirty (20:30). (It is half past eight.)
Es ist neun Uhr 蹿眉苍蹿耻苍诲惫颈别谤锄颈驳 鈥 It is quarter to ten (09:45).
To say half past when using the 12-hour clock, use halb (half). In German, you say half to the hour, instead of half past the hour. So half past six in English would be halb sieben (half to seven) in German.
- Es ist halb zehn - It is 09:30 (literally half to ten).
- Es ist halb acht - It is 07:30 (literally half to eight).
Saying what you do at different times of the day
To say at when referring to a time, use um. Meal times are a good example of this:
- Fr眉hst眉ck ist um sieben Uhr - Breakfast is at 07:00.
- Mittagessen ist um zw枚lf Uhr 诲谤别颈脽颈驳 - Lunch is at 12:30.
- Abendessen ist um achtzehn Uhr - Dinner is at 18:00.
German | English |
---|---|
um | at |
das Fr眉hst眉ck | breakfast |
das Mittagessen | lunch |
das Abendessen | dinner / evening meal |
Talking about your daily routine
To talk about your daily routine, use um (at).
- Ich gehe um neun Uhr in die Schule - I go to school at 09:00.
- Ich mache meine Hausaufgaben um sechzehn Uhr - I do my homework at 16:00.
Can you talk about your daily routine using the phrases in the table below?
German | English |
---|---|
ich fr眉hst眉cke | I have breakfast |
ich verlasse das Haus | I leave the house |
ich gehe in die Schule | I go to school |
ich esse zu Mittag | I eat lunch |
ich gehe nach Hause | I go home |
ich mache meine Hausaufgaben | I do my homework |
ich 眉be Klavier | I practise piano |
ich spiele Fu脽ball / Videospiele | I play football / video games |
ich esse zu Abend | I eat dinner / evening meal |
ich gehe ins Bett | I go to bed |
Word order
German word order changes if you use a time phrase at the start of the sentence. The verb has to be the second idea, so make sure you swap the verb and the subject round.
- Ich gehe um acht Uhr 诲谤别颈脽颈驳 in die Schule - I go to school at 08:30.
- Um acht Uhr 诲谤别颈脽颈驳 gehe ich in die Schule - At 08:30 I go to school.
Video
Watch the video then test your understanding in the short quiz!
Quiz
Game - FestiLingo: German. game
Visit the festival and practise German language skills in this game
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