Telling the time in German
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Telling the time
There are two ways to tell the time:
- The hour first: hours from 1 to 24 + Uhr + minutes
Wie spät ist es?
What time is it?
06:05 Uhr = Es ist sechs Uhr fünf.
06:05 = It is six-o-five. (a.m.)
18:05 Uhr = Es ist achtzehn Uhr fünf.
18:05 = It is six-o-five. (p.m.)
18:15 Uhr = Es ist achtzehn Uhr fünfzehn.
18:15 = It is six-fifteen. (p.m.)
08:30 Uhr = Es ist acht Uhr dreißig.
08:30 = It is eight-thirty. (a.m.)
- The minutes at the start: minutes (+ optionally: Minuten) + nach / vor + hours from 1 to 12 (optionally: + time of day)
Wie viel Uhr ist es?
What's the time?
06:05 Uhr = Es ist fünf (Minuten) nach sechs (morgens).
06:05 = It is five (minutes) past six (in the morning).
18:05 Uhr = Es ist fünf (Minuten) nach sechs (abends).
18:05 = It is five (minutes) past six (in the evening).
Notes:
- In the format with the minutes at the start we use Viertel (quarter) and halb (half) rather than fünfzehn (fifteen) and dreißig (thirty).
18:15 Uhr = Viertel nach sechs (abends)
18:15 = Quarter past six (in the evening)
08:30 Uhr = halb neun (morgens)
08:30 = half eight in the morning (N.B. in German, halb is used before the upcoming hour, not the previous hour)
- To state the time we use Uhr (o’clock). We use the word Stunde (hour) as a time unit along with Minuten (minutes) or Sekunden (seconds).
Es ist zwei Uhr nachmittags.
It is two o’clock in the afternoon.
Ich bin in zwei Stunden bei dir.
I will be with you in two hours.
„Es ist 6 Uhr 30 - aufstehen!“
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