How to Tell Time in German

Telling time in German requires knowing three basic ingredients: the numbers from 1 to 59, the German words for ‘to’ and ‘after,’ and the fractions ‘quarter’ and ‘half’ (past).

HERE’S HOW:

• Learn or review the German numbers from 1-59. 
• An hour is divided up like a pie into quarters (viertel) and halves (halb). 
• For ‘half past,’ you say halb and the next hour. ‘Halb acht’ = 7:30, i.e., half (way to) eight. 
• After is nach. ‘Es ist zehn nach zwei’ = 2:10 (It’s ten after two). 
• For ‘quarter past,’ you say Viertel nach: ‘Viertel nach neun’ = 9:15. 
• To or before is vor (FOR). ‘Viertel vor zwei’ = 1:45. ‘Zehn vor elf’ = 10:50. 
• English ‘o’clock’ is Uhr in German. ‘Es ist fünf Uhr’ = 5:00 (five o’clock). 
• For precise times, you say Uhr between the hour and the minutes: ‘zehn Uhr zwölf’ = 10:12. 
• For many common situations (timetables, TV guides), Germans use 24-hour (military) time. 
• Add 12 to a pm time to get the 24-hour form: 2 pm + 12 = 14.00 (vierzehn Uhr). 
• To express 24-hour time, be precise: ‘zwanzig Uhr neun’ = 20.09 = 8:09 pm. 
• Practice your German time-telling skills with every clock or schedule you see.

TIPS:

• Make sure you know your German numbers well. Watch out for eins. With time it’s ‘ein Uhr’ (1:00). 
• Accept the fact that there are different ways of telling time in different cultures, none of which is ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than the others. 
• Remember that understanding the time is usually more important than being able to say it.