Telling Time in German – A No-Nonsense Guide

If you have made it to Germany, you must be aware that Germans are punctual, almost to a fault. It is actually an important part of German etiquette to be on time. In this post we’ll share with you everything you need to know about telling time in German including how to ask for the time, tell time, and provide you with new vocabulary words surrounding the concept of time in German.

How to Ask For the Time in German

Practice asking for the time as much as you can! When you approach a stranger in public, try not to approach them from behind, and try not to touch them to get their attention, it’s perceived as rude in Germany.

Open with Entschuldigung “pardon” or Entschuldigen Sie “Excuse me or sorry”. Sie, which is the “formal you” indicates a formal relationship with a stranger. When you ask someone who you are close with, a family member or friend use Du, which is the “informal you”. 

Read more about du vs sie.

Different Ways to Ask for the Time in German

German	English
Wieviel Uhr ist es?	What time is it?
Wie spät ist es?	How late is it? What time is it?
Haben Sie die Uhrzeit?	Do you (formal) have the time?
Wissen Sie wieviel Uhr es ist?	Do you (formal) know what time it is?
Wissen Sie wie spät es ist?	Do you know (formal) what time it is?

How to Indicate the Full Hour

Telling time in German is very similar to indicating time in English. Look at the examples below to get an overview of this basic form of telling time. Uhr simply means “o’clock”.

AM vs PM When Telling Time in German

Well if we ask the question, you know there must be! You might be familiar with the term “military time” or “international time” and that’s the time that’s used in Germany.

Numbers from 1 to 12 are AM, numbers from 13 to 24 are PM. Germans don’t adhere to this religiously though. Numbers from 1 to 12 are often used throughout the whole day, and the context lets you know that you probably won’t be meeting your friend for coffee at 3am when they say Ich treffe dich um 3 Uhr “I’ll see you at 3”.

It is however important to be aware of those times as specific situations are often in military time. Whenever you take a bus or train, have an official meeting or appointment, it will probably be indicated in military time. See below for how to indicate PM time in German.

How to Indicate Half Past, or 30

There are two ways of indicating the 30 minute mark. The first is simply stating the hour + thirty and the second is using the term “half past”.

Hour + Thirty

Let’s first take a look at the simple example. Thirty in German is dreißig. Let’s take a look at some examples.

Did you notice something? Although Uhr “o clock” is written after the hour and the minute, when you express the time verbally, you put it between the hour and the minute. 

Half Past

If you want to use the expression “half past”, you can only use it with standard time, or the 12 hour time. It cannot be used with military time.

Another thing to note is that while in English, you would say half past two, to refer to 2:30, in German, you would say es ist halb drei, which translates to “half TIL three”. So you just need to remember that you need to refer to the next hour when you’re using this “half past” expression.

Let’s take a look at a few examples. To hopefully make things more clear, we’ll use the term “half til” instead of “half past”.

Note: When you express time by using halb “half past” you only use the numbers 1 to 12. When you are using military time (13 to 24), make sure you use the hour + thirty rule.

How to Indicate Hours and Minutes

Indicating hours and minutes is similar to indicating half past or 30. When you use military time from 13 to 24 you indicate the minutes just as you would with 30.

Let’s take a look at some examples saying the time in German simply.

As in the case with using the expression “half past”, when you use numbers from 1 to 12 you can also use expressions such as viertel “quarter”, halb “half”, nach “after” and vor “before”. Check out the following examples:

Note: When you express time by using viertel “quarter”, halb “half”, nach “after” and vor “before” you only use it with numbers 1 to 12.

How to Indicate the Time of Day in German

When you don’t refer to an exact time but more to a time frame throughout the day you can also use the following expressions:

You might also be interested in these articles about German greetings at different times of day:

• How to Say Good Evening in German
• 18 Ways To Say Good Morning in German – Beyond Guten Morgen
• 5 Common Ways of Saying Good Afternoon in German
• 10 Ways of Saying Good Night in German – Beyond Gute Nacht

Important Phrases and Vocab for Time in German

German is a vast language that has specific words to express concepts such as übermorgen “the day after tomorrow” or vorgestern “the day before yesterday”. Familiarize yourself with the German words about time below:

Conclusion

If you feel overwhelmed by the new vocabulary we looked at today, relax, Rome wasn’t built in a day and we are sure nobody ever learned German in a day either. Practice asking and telling time in Germany and you’ll be familiar with the different concepts. When you’re getting started, don’t be afraid to double-check and confirm a particular time, you don’t want to be an hour late when meeting someone.