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- Learning the clock
Learning the clock
at ten means the exact point in time when the hour has passed:
- um zehn = at ten
about ten is an approximate expression and is not fixed to certain point in time, just some moment shortly before until shortly after ten:
- ungefähr zehn Uhr = about ten o'clock / around ten o'clock
There are even regional differences how to tell the time in spoken German:
In some parts of Germany we say (with 12 hour format, numbers only up to 12):
- viertel zehn = 09:15 (a quarter of the hour before ten has passed)
- halb zehn = 09:30 (one half of the hour before ten has passed)
- drei viertel zehn = 09:45 (three quarters of the hour before ten have passed)
- um zehn = 10:00 (it is now exactly ten o'clock)
In other parts of Germany we say (with 12 hour format, numbers only up to 12):
- Viertel nach neun = 09:15 (a quarter after nine has passed)
- neun Uhr dreißig = 09:30 (thirty minutes after nine have passed)
- Viertel vor zehn = 09:45 (one quarter of an hour still has to pass until ten o'clock)
- zehn Uhr = 10:00 (it is now exactly ten o'clock)
Officially, German uses the 24 hour format:
- 00:00 = null Uhr = "Um Mitternacht."
- 01:00 = ein Uhr = "Um eins (morgens)."
- 02:00 = zwei Uhr = "Um zwei (morgens)."
- 03:00 = drei Uhr = "Um drei (morgens)."
- 04:00 = vier Uhr = "Um vier (morgens)."
- 05:00 = fünf Uhr = "Um fünf (morgens)."
- 06:00 = sechs Uhr = "Um sechs (morgens)".
- 07:00 = sieben Uhr = "Um sieben (morgens)."
- 08:00 = acht Uhr = "Um acht (morgens)."
- 09:00 = neun Uhr = "Um neun (morgens)."
- 10:00 = zehn Uhr = "Um zehn (morgens)."
- 11:00 = elf Uhr = "Um elf (morgens)."
- 12:00 = zwölf Uhr = "Um zwölf (mittags)."
- 13:00 = dreizehn Uhr = "Um eins (nachmittags)."
- 14:00 = vierzehn Uhr = "Um zwei (nachmittags)."
- 15:00 = fünfzehn Uhr = "Um drei (nachmittags)."
- 16:00 = sechzehn Uhr = "Um vier (nachmittags)."
- 17:00 = siebzehn Uhr = "Um fünf (abends)."
- 18:00 = achtzehn Uhr = "Um sechs (abends)."
- 19:00 = neunzehn Uhr = "Um sieben (abends)."
- 20:00 = zwanzig Uhr = "Um acht (abends)."
- 21:00 = einundzwanzig Uhr = "Um neun (abends)."
- 22:00 = zweiundzwanzig Uhr = "Um zehn (abends)."
- 23:00 = dreiundzwanzig Uhr = "Um elf (abends)."
In 24 hour format, minutes are simply appended after the hour:
- 00:06 = null Uhr sechs
- 07:59 = sieben Uhr neunundfünfzig
- 14:30 = vierzehn Uhr dreißig (24h format) = 02:30pm = halb drei (12h format)
- 14:43 = vierzehn Uhr dreiundvierzig
- 23:20 = dreiundzwanzig Uhr zwanzig
12 Comments
1239
Thank you. Can I check please, pada.online, you have spelled "viertel" "dreiviertel" so, without upper case even though they are nouns. Is that correct?
Duden differentiates between numeral and noun:
In the first section viertel is a numeral (Zahlwort) and not capitalized - the property of constituting a quarter part of an hour - den vierten Teil einer Stunde ausmachend:
In the second section Viertel is a noun and capitalized - the quarter of an hour as a noun:
Thank you! I've started listening to Deutschlandradio and was surprised to hear the time given as "vierzehn Uhr dreißig" but I imagine that's standard on the radio. As for the two 12-hour systems, do people who use one understand people who use the other?
Catalans count forward to the coming hour, as in some parts of Germany.
<pre>viertel zehn = un quart de deu
halb zehn = dos quarts de deu (like "two quarters to ten")
drei viertel zehn = tres quarts de deu
um zehn = les deu
</pre>
I only really mastered Catalan time through many hours of listening to the radio. You'll even hear "són dos quarts i mig de deu" ("it's two and a half quarters to ten"), meaning it's about 9:38!
Public radio station Deutschlandradio uses the official 24h format:
- Es ist $hour Uhr ($minutes).
Most people from the "current hour" region (Northern/Western Germany) have difficulties understanding the "coming hour" format (Southern/Eastern Germany), so it is best to stick to the official 24-hour time which is understood by everyone.
Catalan time sounds interesting, I was not aware of these same concepts existing in other countries too.