How to Tell the Time in German: Die Uhrzeit A1
A German walks up to you and asks Wie spät ist es? You can show him your phone, or you can tell him the time in perfect German. In this lesson Luzi shows you the two ways to tell the time in German, the easy one used on radio and TV and the everyday one used in conversation, and finishes with two bonus tips that Germans use all the time.
Two Ways to Tell the Time in German
German has two Möglichkeiten (options) to tell the time:
- Radio und Fernsehen (radio and TV): the easy and logical way. Luzi recommends it to all beginners.
- Im Gespräch (in conversation): the way people talk to each other. It is more common in daily life, but sometimes a little confusing.
The question is always the same: Wie spät ist es? It means “How late is it?”. The only thing you really need are the numbers. If you are not sure about them, first watch German numbers 1 to 20 and German numbers 20 to 100.
Option 1: The Time on Radio and TV (24 Hours)
This option uses a 24-hour clock, so there is no a.m. and p.m. 6 a.m. is 6 Uhr and 6 p.m. is 18 Uhr.
The pattern is always: hour, then Uhr, then minutes. The word Uhr stands between the two numbers.
- Es ist 14 Uhr 33. (It is 14:33. In the morning it could also be Es ist 2 Uhr 33.)
- Es ist 18 Uhr 45. (It is 18:45, or Es ist 6 Uhr 45.)
- Es ist 9 Uhr 43. (It is 9:43.)
That is everything you need for option 1. You can already tell the time.
Option 2: The Time in Conversation (12 Hours)
In conversation, Germans mostly use a 12-hour clock. You can also use the 24-hour clock in conversation, but the 12-hour version is much more common.
The Easy Times: o'clock, quarter past, half, quarter to
| English | German | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 3 o'clock | Es ist 3 Uhr. / Es ist 3. / Es ist Punkt 3. | In conversation people often drop Uhr. Punkt means exactly. |
| quarter past 7 | Es ist Viertel nach sieben. | Viertel is a quarter, nach is after. |
| half past 10 | Es ist halb elf. | German says “half eleven”. It is shorter than English. |
| quarter to 4 | Es ist Viertel vor vier. | Vor is before. |
Careful with halb: halb elf is 10:30, not 11:30. You count the half hour towards the next hour.
Which Word Do You Use: nach, vor or halb?
The quarter hours already show the idea: nach is after and vor is before. For all other minutes, the clock is divided into four sections:
| Minutes | What you say | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 20 | minutes + nach + hour | 14:20 = zwanzig nach zwei |
| 21 to 29 | minutes + vor halb + next hour | 15:25 = fünf vor halb vier |
| 31 to 39 | minutes + nach halb + next hour | 13:35 = fünf nach halb zwei |
| 40 to 59 | minutes + vor + next hour | 16:40 = zwanzig vor fünf |
It looks confusing, so let's go section by section. Notice that in this version the minutes come first and the hour comes second. This is different from many other languages.
Section 1: Minutes 1 to 20 (nach)
| 24-hour clock | In conversation |
|---|---|
| 14 Uhr 20 | Es ist zwanzig nach zwei. (It is 20 minutes after two.) |
| 9 Uhr 10 | Es ist zehn nach neun. |
| 20 Uhr 7 | Es ist sieben nach acht. |
Section 2: Minutes 21 to 29 (vor halb)
This is the most confusing section. Fünf vor halb vier means “five minutes before half four”, which is 3:25.
| 24-hour clock | In conversation |
|---|---|
| 15 Uhr 25 | Es ist fünf vor halb vier. |
| 8 Uhr 23 | Es ist sieben vor halb neun. |
| 21 Uhr 28 | Es ist zwei vor halb zehn. |
Section 3: Minutes 31 to 39 (nach halb)
| 24-hour clock | In conversation |
|---|---|
| 13 Uhr 35 | Es ist fünf nach halb zwei. (Five minutes after half two.) |
| 6 Uhr 42 | Es ist sieben nach halb sieben. |
| 19 Uhr 32 | Es ist zwei nach halb acht. |
Section 4: Minutes 40 to 59 (vor)
| 24-hour clock | In conversation |
|---|---|
| 16 Uhr 40 | Es ist zwanzig vor fünf. |
| 7 Uhr 50 | Es ist zehn vor acht. |
| 23 Uhr 57 | Es ist drei vor zwölf. |
The last example, drei vor zwölf, is perfectly correct and exact, but it is probably not what people say most often. That is why Luzi has two bonus tips.
Bonus Tip 1: kurz vor, kurz nach and etwa
In real life Germans often do not say the exact minute. They say that it is a little before or after the full hour, or around it.
| Exact time | More common in conversation |
|---|---|
| Es ist drei vor zwölf. (11:57) | Es ist kurz vor zwölf. (kurz = short, so shortly before twelve) or Es ist etwa zwölf. (etwa = around) |
| Es ist zwei nach zehn. (10:02) | Es ist kurz nach zehn. or Es ist etwa zehn. |
Bonus Tip 2: Use um When You Want to Meet
Telling the time is nice, but a more common situation is arranging to meet someone. The question word is wann (when), and the answer always needs the preposition um plus the time.
- Wann gehst du ins Kino? (When are you going to the movies?)
- Ich gehe um 8 Uhr ins Kino. (I go to the movies at 8 o'clock.)
Always use um with a time: um 18 Uhr, um 7 Uhr, um 6 Uhr 30, um Viertel nach sieben.
Your Turn
At the end of the video Luzi asks you a question: Wann isst du Abendessen? (When do you have dinner?). Answer in a full sentence and do not forget the preposition um.
What to Learn Next
Telling the time goes together with days and dates, so watch weekdays, daytime and months in German and German dates and ordinal numbers. To use the prepositions around times correctly, continue with the top 5 German time prepositions and the time prepositions vor, nach, in and für. For the question word wann, see basic German question words.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you ask for the time in German?
You ask Wie spät ist es?, which literally means “How late is it?”. The answer starts with Es ist ..., for example Es ist 3 Uhr.
What is the difference between the two ways of telling time in German?
The radio and TV way uses the 24-hour clock with hour, Uhr and minutes (Es ist 14 Uhr 33). The conversation way uses the 12-hour clock with words like Viertel nach, halb and vor.
What does halb mean when telling the time in German?
Halb means half, but it points to the next hour. Es ist halb elf means 10:30, because it is half way to eleven.
When do you use nach and vor with the time in German?
Use nach for minutes 1 to 20 and for minutes 31 to 39 (together with halb). Use vor for minutes 21 to 29 (vor halb) and for minutes 40 to 59.
Which preposition do you use with the time in German?
Use um. You say Ich gehe um 8 Uhr ins Kino. This is always the preposition for a time when you want to say at what time something happens.
Telling the time is one of the first things you need in real life. In our A1 German online course you practise it step by step with short videos, worksheets and a textbook, and you can ask us questions in every exercise.
