DATES AND TIME IN GERMAN
Abbreviations: adj.
A
after ten o’clock nach zehn Uhr
quarter past five viertel nach fünf
five past ten fünf nach zehn
afternoons, in the afternoon nachmittags, am Nachmittag
two hours ago vor zwei Stunden
ten years ago vor zehn Jahren
Note: German schedules and timetables use 24-hour time rather than AM or PM.
The word jährlich is based on das Jahr (year), the root word for many similar words in German, including das Jahrhundert (century) and das Jahrzehnt(decade).
in April im April
(See all of the months below, under “month”)
around ten o’clock gegen zehn Uhr
at ten o’clock um zehn Uhr
in (the) autumn/fall im Herbst
B
the day before yesterday vorgestern
before ten o’clock (be)vor zehn Uhr
years before Jahre früher
Because the English word “before” can have so many meanings in German, it is wise to learn the appropriate phrases or idioms. Part of the problem is that the word (in both languages) can functon as an adverb, an adjective or a preposition, AND can be used to express both time (previous to, earlier) and location (in front of). In clock time vor is used to mean before or to, as in “ten to four” = zehn vor vier.
That’s behind me now. Das ist jetzt hinter mir.
(be) behind schedule/time im Rückstand (sein)
weeks behind Wochen im Rückstand
C
Both the English word calendar and German Kalender come from the Latin word kalendae (calends, “the day when accounts are due”) or the first day of the month. Roman dates were expressed in “kalendae,” nonae” (nones), and “idus” (ides), the 1st, 5th and 13th days of a month (the 15th day in the months of March, May, July and October) respectively. The names for the months of the year came into English, German and most of the western languages via Greek and Latin.
The word for clock/watch – Uhr – came to German via French heure from Latin hora (time, hour). That same Latin word gave English the word “hour.” Sometimes German uses the abbreviation “h” for Uhr or “hour,” as in “5h25” (5:25) or “km/h” (Stundenkilometer, km per hour).
CAUTION! Do not confuse zählen with zahlen (to pay)!
For a detailed glossary of “day” expressions in German, see Day by Day: Day Expressions in German.
standard time (n.) e Standardzeit, e Winterzeit
Germany first introduced Sommerzeit during the war years. MESZ (Mitteleuropäische Sommerzeit, Central European DST) was reintroduced in 1980. In coordination with other European countries, Germany uses MESZ from the last Sunday in March until the last Sunday in October.
digital display e Zifferanzeige, s Display
E
evenings, in the evening abends, am Abend
F
in the fall/autumn im Herbst
My watch is running fast. Meine Uhr geht vor.
the first car das erste Auto
the first day der erste Tag
the first door die erste Tür
See German Numbers for an English-German guide to ordinal (1st, 2nd, 3rd…) and cardinal numbers (1, 2, 3, 4…).
in a fortnight/two weeks in vierzehn Tagen
the fourth car das vierte Auto
the fourth day der vierte Tag
the fourth floor die vierte Etage
(on) Fridays freitags
Note that all of the German days of the week are masculine (der). The days of the German week (which starts with Monday) fall in this sequence: Montag, Dienstag, Mittwoch, Donnerstag, Freitag, Samstag (Sonnabend), Sonntag.
G
H
Latin hora (time, hour) gave English the word “hour” and German the word for “clock” (Uhr). Sometimes German uses the abbreviation “h” for Uhr or “hour,” as in “5h25” (5:25) or “km/h” (Stundenkilometer, km per hour).
half past one (five, eight, etc.) halb zwei (sechs, neun, usw.)
big hand großer Zeiger
little hand kleiner Zeiger
every hour jede Stunde
every two/three hours alle zwei/drei Stunden
GENDER TIP: Note that all of the German nouns having to do with clock time are feminine (die): e Uhr, e Stunde, e Minute, usw.
I
L
last week letzte Woche, vorige Woche
last weekend letztes Wochenende
be late Verspätung haben
M
(on) Mondays montags
Montag, like English “Monday,” is named for the moon (der Mond), i.e., “moon-day.” On German (European) calendars, the week begins with Montag, not Sonntag (the last day of the week): Montag, Dienstag, Mittwoch, Donnerstag, Freitag, Samstag (Sonnabend), Sonntag. This has the benefit of putting the two weekend days together rather than separated, as on Anglo-American calendars.
Months in German: (all der) Januar, Februar, März, April, Mai, Juni, Juli, August, September, Oktober, November, Dezember.
this morning heute Morgen
tomorrow morning morgen früh, morgen Vormittag
yesterday morning gestern früh, gestern Vormittag
N
next week nächste Woche
next weekend nächstes Wochenende
at night nachts, in der Nacht
by night bei Nacht
See German Numbers for an English-German guide to calendar dates, numbers (Zahlen) and counting (zählen).
O
P
quarter past five viertel nach fünf
five past ten fünf nach zehn
Note: German schedules and timetables use 24-hour time rather than AM or PM.
Q
quarter to/past viertel vor/nach
quarter past five viertel sechs
S
(on) Saturdays samstags, sonnabends
the four seasons die vier Jahreszeiten
second-largest zweitgrößte
the second car das zweite Auto
the second door die zweite Tür
My watch is running slow. Meine Uhr geht nach.
in (the) spring im Frühling/Frühjahr
daylight saving time (n.) e Sommerzeit
in (the) summer im Sommer
(on) Sundays sonntags
T
third-largest drittgrößte
the third car das dritte Auto
the third door die dritte Tür
The world’s official 24 time zones were created in October 1884 (1893 in Prussia) by an international conference in Washington, D.C. in response to the needs of railroads, shipping companies and increasing international travel. Each hour’s zone is 15 degrees in width (15 Längengraden) with Greenwich as the prime (zero) meridian (Nullmeridian) and the International Date line at 180º. In practice, most time zone boundaries are adjusted to conform to various political and geographic considerations. There are even some half-hour time zones.
(on) Thursdays donnerstags
today’s newspaper die heutige Zeitung, die Zeitung von heute
a week/month from today heute in einer Woche/einem Monat
tomorrow afternoon morgen Nachmittag
tomorrow evening morgen Abend
tomorrow morning morgen früh, morgen Vormittag
tomorrow night morgen Nacht
a week/month/year ago tomorrow morgen vor einer Woche/einem Monat/einem Jahr
(on) Tuesdays dienstags
U
UTC was introduced in 1964 and is headquartered at the Paris Observatory (but calculated from the prime meridian at Greenwich). Since 1972 UTC has been based on atomic clocks. A UTC radio time signal (Zeitzeichen) is broadcast around the world. UTC is coordinated with solar time (UT1). Because of irregularities in the earth’s rotation, a leap second must be introduced from time to time in December or June.
W
(on) Wednesdays mittwochs
Ash Wednesday Aschermittwoch
about holidays such as Ash Wednesday.
a week ago vor einer Woche
for a week (für) eine Woche
in a week in einer Woche
two weeks, fortnight (n.) vierzehn Tage (14 days)
in two weeks/a fortnight in vierzehn Tagen
this/next/last week diese/nächste/vorige Woche
days of the week die Tage der Woche
Days of the Week with Abbreviations: Montag (Mo), Dienstag (Di), Mittwoch (Mi), Donnerstag (Do), Freitag (Fr), Samstag (Sa), Sonntag (So).
(on) weekdays wochentags, werktags
a long weekend ein verlängertes Wochenende
at/on the weekend am Wochenende
at/on weekends an Wochenenden
for/over the weekend übers Wochenende
weekly newspaper Wochenzeitung
in (the) winter im Winter
Y
for years seit Jahren
in the year 2006 im Jahr(e) 2006
yesterday (adv.) gestern