Uhrzeit (Time)¶
German has two ways to say a clock time: an official one (like a train timetable) and a colloquial one (like everyday speech).
Offizielle Methode (Official Method)¶
Say the hour, then Uhr, then the minutes — all as plain numbers, no "vor"/"nach"/"halb" involved.
| Uhrzeit | Deutsch |
|---|---|
| 7:00 | Sieben Uhr |
| 7:05 | Sieben Uhr fünf |
| 7:15 | Sieben Uhr fünfzehn |
| 7:25 | Sieben Uhr fünfundzwanzig |
| 7:35 | Sieben Uhr fünfunddreißig |
| 7:45 | Sieben Uhr fünfundvierzig |
| 7:55 | Sieben Uhr fünfundfünfzig |
| 8:00 | Acht Uhr |
Unoffizielle (Informal), umgangssprachliche Methode (Colloquial Method)¶
This one is built around three anchor points per hour: the hour itself, halb (half) — pointing at the next hour, not the current one — and the quarter marks either side of it. vor (to/before) and nach (after/past) say how far you are from the nearest anchor.
| Uhrzeit | Deutsch |
|---|---|
| 7:00 | Sieben Uhr |
| 7:05 | Fünf nach sieben |
| 7:15 | Viertel nach sieben |
| 7:25 | Fünf vor halb acht |
| 7:30 | Halb acht |
| 7:35 | Fünf nach halb acht |
| 7:45 | Viertel vor acht |
| 7:55 | Fünf vor acht |
| 8:00 | Acht Uhr |
Merke (Note)
- Halb acht means 7:30, not 8:30 — it points forward to the next hour, the opposite of how "half seven" reads in English. This is the one thing most likely to trip up an English speaker.
- Uhr is two different jobs in one word: "die Uhr" is the object (a clock/watch), while "Uhr" after a number means "o'clock" — Sieben Uhr has nothing to do with owning a clock.
- Past the half-hour mark, the count switches from nach to vor the next hour, not the current one — 7:35 is "five past half eight", not "thirty-five past seven".
See Uhrzeit-Fragen for asking and answering what time it is.