German Time: How to Tell the Time in German

---

German gives you two useful ways to tell the time: a precise clock-reading style and the shorter phrases people use in conversation. Learn both, because a station announcement and a friend may describe the same time differently.

I’ll show you how to ask what time it is, read the 24-hour clock, use halb, Viertel nach and Viertel vor, and arrange a meeting with um or gegen.

Before we get started, if you’re looking for an online German course, here’s the course I recommend: German Uncovered – Learn German Through the Power of Story, a course with a fascinating new method by my friend Olly. You can try it for free for 7 days!

German Time Vocabulary: The Words You Need to Know

Start with the words that appear in clock times, plans, and times of day. You can add these to a spaced repetition deck alongside the German days of the week.

• die Uhr – “clock,” “watch,” or “o’clock”
• die Zeit – “time”
• vor – “before” or “to”
• nach – “after” or “past”
• das Viertel – “quarter”
• halb – “half”
• um – “at” a stated time
• gegen – “around” a stated time
• heute – “today”
• gestern – “yesterday”
• morgen – “tomorrow”
• morgen früh – “tomorrow morning”
• übermorgen – “the day after tomorrow”
• vorgestern – “the day before yesterday”
• der Morgen – “morning”
• der Vormittag – “late morning” or “the time before noon”
• der Mittag – “midday” or “noon”
• der Nachmittag – “afternoon”
• der Abend – “evening”
• die Nacht – “night”
• die Woche – “week”
• das Wochenende – “weekend”

German nouns are capitalised, which is why Uhr, Zeit and the noun Viertel begin with capital letters. The adverbs heute, gestern and morgen are lowercase.

You’ll also need the German numbers to read precise times.

On the Clock: Ways to Tell German Time

Written timetables commonly use the 24-hour clock. In conversation, you’ll also hear 12-hour phrases such as halb sechs and Viertel vor neun.

On the Hour

For a time on the hour, use this pattern:

Es ist + number + Uhr. – “It is … o’clock.”

• Es ist zwei Uhr. – “It is two o’clock.”
• Es ist fünf Uhr. – “It is five o’clock.”
• Es ist zehn Uhr. – “It is ten o’clock.”

In ordinary 12-hour speech, context may tell you whether zwei Uhr means 02:00 or 14:00. When you need to be explicit, add a time-of-day adverb: zwei Uhr nachts (“two at night”) or zwei Uhr nachmittags (“two in the afternoon”). You’ll also hear morgens (“in the morning”) and abends (“in the evening”). For 12:00 and 00:00, Mittag means “noon” and Mitternacht means “midnight.”

The 24-hour clock is common in schedules, announcements, and more formal time statements:

• Es ist fünfzehn Uhr. – “It is 15:00.”
• Es ist zwanzig Uhr. – “It is 20:00.”
• Es ist zweiundzwanzig Uhr. – “It is 22:00.”

The Exact Time

To read a precise clock time, say the hour, Uhr, and then the minutes:

Es ist + hour + Uhr + minutes.

• Es ist zwei Uhr sechzehn. – 02:16 or 14:16, depending on context
• Es ist fünf Uhr zwei. – 05:02 or 17:02, depending on context
• Es ist zehn Uhr vierunddreißig. – 10:34 or 22:34, depending on context
• Es ist siebzehn Uhr zwei. – 17:02

The 24-hour version removes that ambiguity. In less formal conversation, people often choose the shorter expressions in the next two sections.

How halb Works in German

German halb points forward to the next hour. Halb sechs literally treats the time as halfway to six, so it means 05:30 or 17:30.

• halb sechs – 05:30 or 17:30
• halb zehn – 09:30 or 21:30
• halb elf – 10:30 or 22:30

This differed from the British English usage I knew when I moved to Germany, so I had to get used to naming the upcoming hour. If halb sechs does not come naturally yet, picture the hour hand halfway on its journey towards six.

Quarter Past, Quarter To, and Other German Roundings

For the widely understood “quarter past” and “quarter to” forms, use:

Es ist Viertel nach + hour. – “It is quarter past the hour.”
Es ist Viertel vor + upcoming hour. – “It is quarter to the upcoming hour.”

• Es ist Viertel nach drei. – “It is quarter past three.”
• Es ist Viertel nach zwölf. – “It is quarter past twelve.”
• Es ist Viertel vor vier. – “It is quarter to four.”
• Es ist Viertel vor neun. – “It is quarter to nine.”

Regional forms can follow a different pattern. In some areas, viertel sechs means 05:15 and drei viertel sechs means 05:45. Notice the lowercase viertel in these regional clock expressions. If a regional form is unfamiliar, ask the speaker to confirm the time with numbers.

You may also hear times described relative to the half hour:

• fünf vor halb sieben – 06:25 or 18:25
• fünf vor halb zehn – 09:25 or 21:25
• fünf nach halb elf – 10:35 or 22:35
• fünf nach halb zwölf – 11:35 or 23:35

You do not need to produce all the regional and conversational forms straight away. Recognising that the hour after halb is the upcoming hour will prevent the most common half-hour mix-up.

German Time-Related Questions

Once you can understand a clock time, the next step is asking for it and using it in plans.

How to Ask What Time It Is

• Wie spät ist es? – “What time is it?”
• Wie viel Uhr ist es? – “What time is it?”
• Entschuldigung, können Sie mir bitte sagen, wie spät es ist? – “Excuse me, could you please tell me what time it is?”

The first two are direct questions. The third uses formal Sie and suits a polite question to an adult you do not know. Du is the informal or familiar form; it is not inherently rude. Which form people choose depends on their relationship and the setting, and practices can vary.

Setting a Time to Meet Friends

To ask what time you should meet, say:

• Um wie viel Uhr sollen wir uns treffen? – “At what time should we meet?”

Use um for a stated meeting time and gegen when the time is approximate:

• Können wir uns um 13:00 Uhr treffen? – “Could we meet at 13:00?”
• Sollen wir uns um 13:00 Uhr treffen? – “Should we meet at 13:00?”
• Können wir uns gegen 13:00 Uhr treffen? – “Could we meet around 13:00?”
• Sollen wir uns gegen 13:00 Uhr treffen? – “Should we meet around 13:00?”

Practise Telling the Time in German

Pick five times from today’s schedule and say each one twice: first as a precise clock reading, then as a conversational phrase where one fits. For 17:30, for example, compare siebzehn Uhr dreißig with halb sechs.

Then practise a short exchange: ask Wie spät ist es?, answer with a time, and suggest a meeting using um or gegen. That gives the vocabulary a concrete job instead of leaving it as a list to memorise.