NumbersTelling the time

A solid understanding of numbers is vital to be able to tell the time in any language.

Study this key vocabulary and then attempt to tell the times that follow.

Hilfsvokabeln– Helpful vocabulary

• ...Uhr – ...o’clock
• die Uhr (f) – clock
• nach – past
• vor – to
• Viertel – quarter
• halb – half
• Mittag – midday
• Mitternacht – midnight

24-hour clock

The 24-hour clock is useful in German, as it clarifies the time much more clearly than the 12-hour clock.

For the 24-hour clock, the easiest way to tell times is to replace the colon (:) that is used to denote time in German with the word Uhr, eg

• 13:10 > dreizehn Uhr zehn
• it's 10:20 > es ist zwanzig nach zehn

Did you know?

Germans do not say half past the hour, but a half to the next hour.

It means that halb zehn (literally: half ten) is actually a half hour to ten o’clock, or in other words 09:30.

It also means that you have to be careful when arranging to meet up with friends, or you might keep them waiting for a whole hour.