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### Asking and Telling the Time

To ask someone "What time is it?" in German, you literally ask "How late is it?" (**Wie spät ist es?**). To state the time on the hour, use the formula **Es ist [number] Uhr**.

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### Quarters and Prepositions

For times between the hours, conversational German uses **Viertel** (quarter). You will need two prepositions to connect the quarter to the hour:
- **nach** (past / after)
- **vor** (to / before)

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When you want to state that an event happens *at* a specific time, use the word **um**.

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### Half Hours (A Crucial Difference)

Telling time with half-hours works differently in German. Instead of saying "half past" the current hour, Germans look ahead to the *next* hour. The word **halb** essentially means "halfway to". 

Therefore, **halb zehn** does not mean 10:30. It means halfway to ten: 9:30.

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### Exact and Approximate Times

You can add descriptive words to specify exactly where you are on the clock:
- **genau** (exactly)
- **kurz** (shortly)
- **gleich** (almost)

Use **kurz vor** for "shortly before" and **kurz nach** for "shortly after". If it is just a minute or two away from striking the hour, you can simply use **gleich**.

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### Hours, Minutes, and Times of Day

Remember that **die Uhr** is used for "o'clock" or the physical clock itself. When talking about a *duration* of time, use **die Stunde** (hour) and **die Minute** (minute).

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Finally, just like in English, you do not need numbers to talk about the very middle of the day or night. You can simply use **der Mittag** (noon) and **die Mitternacht** (midnight).

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Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Subordinate clauses for reasons (weil)

Question	Answer
the clock / o'clock	die Uhr
It is three o'clock.	Es ist drei Uhr.
What time is it?	Wie spät ist es?
the quarter	das Viertel
quarter past	Viertel nach
quarter to	Viertel vor
It is a quarter past four.	Es ist Viertel nach vier.
before (in time)	vor
The train departs at a quarter to seven.	Der Zug fährt um Viertel vor sieben ab.
half	halb
School starts at half past seven.	Die Schule fängt um halb acht an.
It is half past nine now.	Es ist jetzt halb zehn.
exactly / precise, exact	genau
It is exactly twelve o'clock.	Es ist genau zwölf Uhr.
We are meeting at exactly two o'clock.	Wir treffen uns um genau zwei Uhr.
shortly / short	kurz
It is shortly before one.	Es ist kurz vor eins.
The bus comes shortly after six.	Der Bus kommt kurz nach sechs.
almost / soon (in a moment)	gleich
I must work. It is almost nine.	Ich muss arbeiten. Es ist gleich neun.
Lunch is almost ready.	Das Mittagessen ist gleich fertig.
the hour	die Stunde
the minute	die Minute
One hour has sixty minutes.	Eine Stunde hat sechzig Minuten.
We have been waiting for fifty minutes already!	Wir warten schon fünfzig Minuten!
We need one hour.	Wir brauchen eine Stunde.
noon	der Mittag
It is already noon.	Es ist schon Mittag.
It is noon and I am hungry.	Es ist Mittag und ich habe Hunger.
midnight	die Mitternacht
At midnight we usually sleep.	Um Mitternacht schlafen wir meistens.
It is midnight. We must sleep.	Es ist Mitternacht. Wir müssen schlafen.
It is quarter to eight.	Es ist Viertel vor acht.
The bus comes at quarter to nine.	Der Bus kommt um Viertel vor neun.
We eat at quarter past seven.	Wir essen um Viertel nach sieben.
It is quarter past ten.	Es ist Viertel nach zehn.
this evening, tonight	heute Abend
This evening I am staying at home.	Heute Abend bleibe ich zu Hause.
What are you doing this evening?	Was machst du heute Abend?
the moment	der Moment
One moment, please!	Einen Moment, bitte!
Wait a moment!	Warten Sie einen Moment!

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