Days, months and the time

Days of the week

All days are der words. On a day is am: am Montag. Every week on that day: montags, samstags (small letter, with -s). In northern and eastern Germany, Saturday is also called Sonnabend. Das Wochenende is the weekend.

Months

Januar, Februar, März, April, Mai, Juni, Juli, August, September, Oktober, November, Dezember. In a month is im: im Mai. In Austria, January is usually Jänner. On the phone, people often say Juno for Juni so it isn't confused with Juli.

Telling the time

Ask Wie spät ist es? or Wie viel Uhr ist es? (What time is it?) and answer Es ist…

halb looks forward to the next hour: halb vier is "half way to four", so 3.30, not 4.30.

At a time is um: um acht Uhr (at eight o'clock). On timetables, the radio and in official situations, Germans use the 24-hour clock: fünfzehn Uhr dreißig (15.30).

Parts of the day: am Morgen (in the morning), am Vormittag (late morning), am Mittag (at midday), am Nachmittag (in the afternoon), am Abend (in the evening), in der Nacht (at night). The numbers are in Numbers from 0 to 100.

• Heute ist Montag.Today is Monday.
• Am Freitag gehe ich ins Kino.On Friday I'm going to the cinema.
• Mein Geburtstag ist im Mai.My birthday is in May.
• Wie spät ist es?What time is it?
• Es ist drei Uhr.It's three o'clock.
• Es ist halb vier.It's half past three.
• Es ist Viertel nach acht.It's quarter past eight.
• Der Kurs beginnt um neun Uhr.The course starts at nine o'clock.
• Samstags arbeite ich nicht.I don't work on Saturdays.

In parts of southern and eastern Germany and in Austria you may hear viertel vier for 3.15 and dreiviertel vier for 3.45. You don't need to use it, but don't be surprised.

Common mistakes

• Reading halb vier as 4.30. It is 3.30: half way to four.
• in Montag or um Montag: days take am.
• am Mai: months take im.
• Es ist drei Uhren. Uhr stays the same: drei Uhr, zehn Uhr.
• Saying Es ist drei halb for 3.30. Say Es ist halb vier.