Read the hour, then the minutes
In the 24-hour format, put Uhr between the hour and the minutes. For a full hour, omit the minutes.
Der Film beginnt um achtzehn Uhr zwanzig.
The film starts at 18:20.
Why does halb zehn mean 9:30?
Think halfway towards the named hour: halb zehn is 9:30. The surrounding conversation tells you whether morning or evening is meant.
Wir frühstücken um halb zehn.
We have breakfast at 9:30.
A quarter past or a quarter to
Viertel nach zehn is 10:15; Viertel vor elf is 10:45. Keep the direction word: it changes which side of the hour you mean.
Es ist Viertel vor elf.
It is 10:45.
Notice the order inside a number
In a two-digit compound with a non-zero ones digit, the ones come first: siebenundvierzig is 47. Write the compound as one word.
Das kostet siebenundvierzig Euro.
That costs 47 euros.
Read a calendar date
The dot after a written day marks an ordinal. Compare der vierte Juni with am vierten Juni: after am, this date form ends in -en.
Wir kommen am vierten Juni.
We are coming on 4 June.
Practise numbers, times and dates
The A1 block includes a small-number reference, explanations, controlled practice, a block check and spaced review. It requires course access or an eligible seven-day trial. The first 10 blocks of each language remain free.
Explore this grammar blockKeep building your sentences
Review German sentence order or separable verbs for daily routines. Next, combine them with time phrases and frequency words. New to German? Begin with the free starter blocks.
Source and scope
Original examples, with the beginner number, date and clock expressions checked against the Goethe-Institut Start Deutsch 1 inventory, pages 78–79. These selected patterns are part of beginner learning; this guide does not establish full A1 proficiency.