Telling the Time in German
After this lesson you can ask and answer what time it is, formally and informally.
Do this first: Numbers 20–100
Übungen
Eight exercises on what you just watched. Get 80% and the lesson is marked done and added to your A1 progress.
1 / 8 · Type the missing word
2 / 8 · Type the missing word
3 / 8 · Word order
Put the words in the right order.
What time is it?
4 / 8 · Word order
Put the words in the right order.
It is eight o'clock.
5 / 8 · Choose
What time is halb neun?
6 / 8 · Choose
What time is halb vier?
7 / 8 · Choose
What time is halb zwölf?
8 / 8 · Choose
What time is halb eins?
In short
For full hours say "Es ist" + number + "Uhr" — Es ist acht Uhr. The trap is halb: halb neun means 8:30, not 9:30, because German counts halfway *to* the next hour. Viertel nach is quarter past, Viertel vor is quarter to.
How it works
Full hours are painless. Es ist acht Uhr, es ist drei Uhr, es ist zwölf Uhr. The word Uhr is not optional in this construction — it is what makes the number a time rather than a quantity.
Then comes the one genuine trap in German time-telling. Halb neun does not mean half past nine. It means half past eight — half an hour *toward* nine. German looks forward to the hour it is approaching; English looks back at the hour just passed. So halb vier is 3:30, halb zwölf is 11:30, halb eins is 12:30. The rule is simple once you accept it: subtract one hour from the number you hear after halb.
Quarters behave the way English speakers expect. Viertel nach means quarter past — Viertel nach sieben is 7:15. Viertel vor means quarter to — Viertel vor zehn is 9:45. Nach is after, vor is before, and both refer to the nearest hour. Alongside all of this, German also uses the plain 24-hour clock in any official context, and there halb never appears at all.
| Time | German | Literally |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00 | Es ist acht Uhr. | it is eight o'clock |
| 8:15 | Viertel nach acht | quarter after eight |
| 8:30 | halb neun | half toward nine ← the trap |
| 8:45 | Viertel vor neun | quarter before nine |
| 9:00 | Es ist neun Uhr. | it is nine o'clock |
| German | English time | Not |
|---|---|---|
| halb eins | 12:30 | not 1:30 |
| halb vier | 3:30 | not 4:30 |
| halb neun | 8:30 | not 9:30 |
| halb zwölf | 11:30 | not 12:30 |
Examples
- Wie spät ist es?What time is it?
- Es ist acht Uhr.It is eight o'clock.
- Es ist halb neun.It is half past eight.
- Es ist Viertel nach sieben.It is quarter past seven.
- Es ist Viertel vor zehn.It is quarter to ten.
- Der Zug fährt um sechs Uhr.The train leaves at six o'clock.
- Wir treffen uns um halb acht.We are meeting at half past seven.
- Der Film beginnt um zwanzig Uhr.The film starts at 8 p.m.
- Ich stehe um halb sieben auf.I get up at half past six.
- Um wie viel Uhr kommst du?At what time are you coming?
Mistakes to avoid
✗ halb neun = 9:30
✓ halb neun = 8:30
The mistake that makes people miss trains. German counts toward the coming hour, so always subtract one.
✗ Es ist acht.
✓ Es ist acht Uhr.
Without Uhr you have said "it is eight" of something unspecified. The word Uhr is what marks it as a time.
✗ Der Zug fährt am sechs Uhr.
✓ Der Zug fährt um sechs Uhr.
Clock times take um, never am. Am is for days — lesson 25 puts all three prepositions side by side.
✗ Viertel vor acht = 8:15
✓ Viertel vor acht = 7:45
Vor means before. If you are ever unsure, nach = after and vor = before, and both point at the nearest hour.
Wortschatz
The words from this lesson.
| die Uhr | clock; o'clock | |
| die Zeit | time | |
| halb | half | |
| das Viertel | quarter | |
| nach | past, after | |
| vor | to, before | |
| Wie spät ist es? | What time is it? | |
| um | at (clock times) | |
| früh | early | |
| spät | late |
Kulturnotiz
German-speaking countries use the 24-hour clock for anything official — timetables, appointments, opening hours, television listings. Um zwanzig Uhr, not um acht Uhr abends. And German punctuality is not a stereotype in professional contexts: for a doctor's appointment or a job interview, arriving at the stated minute is expected, and five minutes late requires an apology. The saying is Fünf Minuten vor der Zeit ist die wahre Pünktlichkeit — five minutes early is true punctuality.
Common questions
+Why does halb neun mean 8:30?
Because German measures the half hour toward the coming hour, not from the one just past. Halb neun is "halfway to nine". English does the opposite, which is why the two systems collide.
+How do I avoid getting halb wrong?
Subtract one from the number you hear. Halb neun → 9 − 1 = 8, so 8:30. Do it consciously until it stops needing thought.
+When do Germans use the 24-hour clock?
In every official or written context: timetables, appointments, opening hours. Um zwanzig Uhr is 8 p.m. Casual speech still uses the 12-hour forms with halb and Viertel.
+Do I say am or um for a time?
Um for clock times — um acht Uhr. Am is for days — am Montag. Im is for months — im Juli. All three are compared in lesson 25.