Telling the time in German isn't the easiest thing to learn for beginners.
Everything related to numbers in a foreign language can very
quickly be confusing. And while German numbers aren't as confusing
as French numbers, learning them is nonetheless not very fun.
In this post, we'll walk you through it and provide you with lots of examples that should
make it easier to learn to tell the time in German.
Telling the Time in German
Knowing how to tell the time in German is very useful.
Being able to tell the time is a practical skill that is necessary for daily life.
If you want to schedule your activities and appointments, arrive on time for meetings and events,
telling the time is an essential skill.
However, that doesn't mean it's also easy.
But we can start with some basics, that aren't as intimidating:
Some nouns, for example.
Nouns for Telling Time
| German | English |
|---|
| die Uhr | clock |
| die Uhrzeit | time |
| die Stunde | hour |
| die Minute | minute |
| die Sekunde | second |
| die Verspätung | delay |
| Es ist ... Uhr | it is ... o'clock |
How to Ask for the Time
| German | English |
|---|
| Wie spät ist es? | What time is it? |
| Wieviel Uhr ist es? | What time is it? |
| Wann treffen wir uns? | When are we meeting? |
| Um wieviel Uhr musst du los? | What time do you have to go? |
| Um wieviele Minuten verspätest du dich? | How many minutes late are you? |
Telling the Exact Time
| German | English |
|---|
| Viertel | quarter |
| halb | half |
| nach | after |
| vor | before |
| German | English |
|---|
| Es ist 8 Uhr. | is it 8 o'clock |
| Es ist 15 Uhr. | it is 15 o'clock |
| Es ist 4 Uhr morgens. | it is 4 o'clock in the morning |
| Es ist 11 Uhr nachts. | it is 11 o'clock in the evening |
| German | English |
|---|
| Es ist acht Uhr dreiundzwanzig. | It is twenty three minutes past eight. |
| Es ist fünfzehn Uhr zwölf. | It is twelve minutes past three. |
| Es ist vier Uhr siebenunddreißig. | It is thirty seven minutes past four. |
| German | English |
|---|
| Es ist halb acht. | It is half past seven. |
| Wir treffen uns um halb zehn. | We're meeting at half past nine. |
| Wieviel Uhr ist es? - Halb drei. | What time is it? - Half past two. |
| German | English |
|---|
| Es ist zehn vor drei. | It is ten minutes to three. |
| Es ist fünf vor zwölf. | It is five minutes to twelve. |
| Es ist zwanzig vor neun. | It is twenty minutes to nine. |
| German | English |
|---|
| Es ist zehn nach drei. | It is ten past three. |
| Wir essen um fünf nach acht. | We're eating at five past eight. |
| Er war um elf nach neun hier. | He was here at eleven past nine. |
| German | English |
|---|
| Es ist Viertel vor acht. | It is quarter to eight. |
| Um Viertel vor zwei kommt Thomas. | Thomas in coming at quarter to two. |
| Das Treffen ist um Viertel nach fünf. | The meeting is at quarter past five. |
| German | English |
|---|
| Es ist zwei vor. | It is two to. |
| Gleich ist es fünf vor. | Soon it'll be five to. |
| Um zwanzig nach muss ich gehen. | I have to go at twenty past. |