Questions & Answers about Het is nu kwart over drie.
Why is there no word for "a" before kwart?
In English we say "a quarter past", but in Dutch you leave out the article een when telling time. It is always just kwart over or kwart voor.
How exactly does over work when telling time?
In Dutch time-telling, over is used to mean "past" the hour. So kwart over drie literally translates to "quarter over three".
Why is nu placed before the time?
In Dutch, words that tell you when something happens, like nu (now), usually sit right after the verb. While English often puts "now" at the end ("It is a quarter past three now"), Dutch naturally says Het is nu...
I've seen the word kwartier for 15 minutes. Why isn't it used here?
Kwartier refers to a duration of time (a block of 15 minutes). Kwart refers to the fraction (a quarter). When reading the clock to state a specific time, you always use kwart.