Arabic tells the hour from the perspective of الساعة “the hour/clock,” a feminine noun. One o’clock has the conventional label الساعة الواحدة “the one hour”; from two onward, the hour normally uses a feminine ordinal such as الساعة الثانية and الساعة الخامسة. This is not a cardinal number placed before a counted noun.
Minutes bring the cardinal systems back. In عشر دقائق “ten minutes,” the numeral shows 3–10 polarity and the noun is plural genitive; in إحدى عشرة دقيقة “eleven minutes,” the counted noun is singular accusative. A precise time expression therefore combines two different governed phrases. Treat each phrase as a unit instead of translating English word by word.
The hour: الساعة plus a feminine ordinal
The ordinary formal pattern is الساعة + feminine hour label. The simple ordinals are definite and agree with الساعة in gender and case. Compound ordinals such as الحادية عشرة have their own fixed internal behavior while occupying the same adjectival slot.
| Time | Arabic | Literal structure |
|---|---|---|
| 1:00 | الساعة الواحدة | the conventional “one” hour |
| 2:00 | الساعة الثانية | the second hour |
| 3:00 | الساعة الثالثة | the third hour |
| 5:00 | الساعة الخامسة | the fifth hour |
| 11:00 | الساعة الحادية عشرة | the eleventh hour |
| 12:00 | الساعة الثانية عشرة | the twelfth hour |
موعد الرحلة الساعة السادسة صباحا.
mawʿidu r-riḥlati s-sāʿatu s-sādisatu ṣabāḥā.
The flight is scheduled for six in the morning.
بدأت الجلسة في الساعة الثانية بعد الظهر.
badaʾati l-jalsatu fī s-sāʿati th-thāniyati baʿda ẓ-ẓuhr.
The session began at two in the afternoon.
The first example presents the time as the predicate, so الساعةُ السادسةُ is nominative. After في, both الساعةِ and its adjective الثانيةِ are genitive. Unvocalized writing hides that contrast, but careful formal speech can reveal it.
The compounds eleven and twelve remain feminine because their head is ساعة: الحادية عشرة and الثانية عشرة. This is not the same construction as cardinal إحدى عشرة دقيقة “eleven minutes.”
Adding minutes with و
For minutes after the hour, join the minute expression with و. A few conventional fractions are especially common:
| Time | Common expression | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| :05 | وخمس دقائق | and five minutes |
| :10 | وعشر دقائق | and ten minutes |
| :15 | والربع | and a quarter |
| :30 | والنصف | and a half |
يفتح المختبر في الساعة الثامنة وخمس دقائق.
yaftaḥu l-mukhtabaru fī s-sāʿati th-thāminati wa-khamsi daqāʾiq.
The laboratory opens at five minutes past eight.
دقيقة is feminine, so 3–10 take the polarity form without ـة: خمس دقائق، عشر دقائق. The counted noun is plural genitive. Here the entire addition is attached to a time phrase governed by في, and careful full inflection gives خمسِ دقائقَ; دقائق is a diptote, so its indefinite genitive has fatḥa rather than kasra.
يبدأ البث في الساعة التاسعة والربع.
yabdaʾu l-baththu fī s-sāʿati t-tāsiʿati wa-r-rubʿ.
The broadcast begins at quarter past nine.
غادر القطار في الساعة الحادية عشرة والنصف ليلا.
ghādara l-qiṭāru fī s-sāʿati l-ḥādiyata ʿashrata wa-n-niṣfi laylā.
The train departed at half past eleven at night.
الربع and النصف are definite nouns coordinated with the hour expression. They are conventional clock fractions, while a general account of fractions and percentages belongs on Fractions, Ratios, and Percentages.
Counting minutes beyond ten
The noun after the numeral changes at the familiar boundaries. These are properties of the complete numeral phrase, not of دقيقة alone.
| Quantity | Minute phrase | Government |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | دقيقة واحدة | singular noun; agreeing postnominal one |
| 2 | دقيقتان / دقيقتين | dual noun; case selects ـان or ـين |
| 3–10 | ثلاث دقائق | polarity numeral + plural genitive noun |
| 11–19 | إحدى عشرة دقيقة | compound numeral + singular accusative specification |
| 20–99 | عشرون دقيقة / عشرين دقيقة | decade shows case; noun stays singular accusative |
تأخر الإقلاع إحدى عشرة دقيقة بسبب الضباب.
taʾakhkhara l-ʾiqlāʿu ʾiḥdā ʿashrata daqīqatan bi-sababi ḍ-ḍabāb.
Departure was delayed by eleven minutes because of the fog.
استغرق الفحص ثلاثين دقيقة كاملة.
ʾistaghraqa l-faḥṣu thalāthīna daqīqatan kāmila(h).
The examination took a full thirty minutes.
The decade is oblique ثلاثين because the duration is accusative. Its singular specification دقيقةً is also accusative. In a nominative subject phrase, the decade would be ثلاثون: بقيت ثلاثون دقيقةً “thirty minutes remained.”
Twelve deserves special attention. Its first element behaves like a dual: اثنتا عشرة دقيقةً in the nominative, but اثنتي عشرة دقيقةً in accusative or genitive position.
ينتهي التسجيل بعد اثنتي عشرة دقيقة بالضبط.
yantahī t-tasjīlu baʿda thnatay ʿashrata daqīqatan bi-ḍ-ḍabṭ.
Registration closes in exactly twelve minutes.
Before the hour with إلا
إلا presents the stated hour as a whole and subtracts the remaining interval: السادسة إلا ربعًا is “six except a quarter,” hence 5:45. The subtracted expression is normally accusative.
تصل الحافلة في السابعة إلا ربعا.
taṣilu l-ḥāfilatu fī s-sābiʿati ʾillā rubʿā.
The bus arrives at quarter to seven.
أغلقت البوابة في العاشرة إلا عشر دقائق.
ʾughliqati l-bawwābatu fī l-ʿāshirati ʾillā ʿashra daqāʾiq.
The gate was closed at ten minutes to ten.
In context, الساعة can be omitted before the ordinal: في السابعة. English instead treats seven as a bare cardinal, so this feminine ordinal structure needs deliberate practice.
Formal schedules and digital notation
Formal timetables often use digits, especially the 24-hour clock. Arabic-Indic digits and Western digits are both found. The sequence ٠٩:٣٠ is still nine-thirty: right-to-left paragraph direction does not reverse the internal place value or swap the hour and minutes.
يظهر في الجدول ٠٩:٣٠، أي الساعة التاسعة والنصف.
yaẓharu fī l-jadwali t-tāsiʿatu wa-thalāthūna daqīqatan, ʾayi s-sāʿatu t-tāsiʿatu wa-n-niṣf.
The timetable shows 09:30, that is, half past nine.
تستقبل العيادة المراجعين من الساعة الثامنة إلى الساعة الرابعة عشرة.
tastaqbilu l-ʿiyādatu l-murājiʿīna mina s-sāʿati th-thāminati ʾilā s-sāʿati r-rābiʿata ʿashara(h).
The clinic receives patients from 08:00 to 14:00.
In continuous prose, institutions may read a 24-hour time with an ordinal such as الرابعة عشرة. A 12-hour equivalent—الثانية بعد الظهر—is often easier in speech. In a highly formal announcement, في تمام الساعة emphasizes punctuality.
سيبدأ الامتحان في تمام الساعة العاشرة صباحا.
sayabdaʾu l-imtiḥānu fī tamāmi s-sāʿati l-ʿāshirati ṣabāḥā.
The examination will begin at exactly ten in the morning.
Common Mistakes
Using a cardinal for the clock hour
❌ يبدأ الاجتماع في الساعة ثلاثة.
Incorrect — ordinary clock hours use a feminine ordinal after الساعة.
✅ يبدأ الاجتماع في الساعة الثالثة.
yabdaʾu l-ijtimāʿu fī s-sāʿati th-thālitha(h).
The meeting begins at three o’clock.
Applying one gender rule to every minute range
❌ تأخر القطار عشرة دقائق.
Incorrect — دقيقة is feminine, so 3–10 use the polarity form عشر, not عشرة.
✅ تأخر القطار عشر دقائق إضافية.
taʾakhkhara l-qiṭāru ʿashra daqāʾiqa ʾiḍāfiyya(h).
The train was delayed by another ten minutes.
Keeping a plural noun after eleven
❌ بقيت إحدى عشرة دقائق.
Incorrect — 11–99 take a singular accusative counted noun.
✅ بقيت إحدى عشرة دقيقة قبل الإغلاق.
baqiyat ʾiḥdā ʿashrata daqīqatan qabla l-ʾighlāq.
Eleven minutes remained before closing.
Missing oblique case on twelve
❌ انتظرنا بعد اثنتا عشرة دقيقة.
Incorrect — after بعد, the first part of twelve must be oblique اثنتي.
✅ عدنا بعد اثنتي عشرة دقيقة من بدء الاستراحة.
ʿudnā baʿda thnatay ʿashrata daqīqatan min badʾi l-istirāḥa(h).
We returned twelve minutes after the break began.
Reversing a digital time in an RTL line
❌ الموعد ١٨:٢٠، أي الساعة العشرون وثماني عشرة دقيقة.
Incorrect — the display is 18:20, not 20:18; paragraph direction does not reverse the fields.
✅ الموعد ١٨:٢٠، أي السادسة وعشرون دقيقة مساء.
al-mawʿidu th-thāminata ʿashrata wa-ʿishrūna daqīqatan, ʾayi s-sādisatu wa-ʿishrūna daqīqatan masāʾ.
The appointment is at 18:20, that is, twenty past six in the evening.
Leaving a decade nominative in an accusative duration
❌ استمرت المقابلة عشرون دقيقة.
Incorrect in fully inflected MSA — the duration is accusative, so the decade is عشرين.
✅ استمرت المقابلة عشرين دقيقة فقط.
ʾistamarrati l-muqābalatu ʿishrīna daqīqatan faqaṭ.
The interview lasted only twenty minutes.
Key Takeaways
- Clock hours use a conventional feminine label: الواحدة at one, then feminine ordinals from الثانية onward; simple ordinals agree with الساعة in case as well as gender and definiteness.
- With و, use conventional الربع and النصف, or build a correctly governed cardinal minute phrase.
- With إلا, name the coming hour and subtract an accusative interval.
- After 3–10, دقائق is plural genitive; after 11–99, دقيقة is singular accusative. Twelve and the decades visibly change for case.
- Digital times preserve their internal order inside right-to-left text, and formal schedules may use either 24-hour ordinals or a 12-hour expression with صباحًا/مساءً.
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