first, the word “time” has two main translations in Italian: tempo and ora.
- tempo denotes the abstract idea of time (il tempo vola = time flies)
- ora is instead the the, by the clock (che ore sono? = what time is it?)
- sono le + el tiempo
- it’s 9 o’clock – it’s 9 a.m. m. (or 9pm)
- e’ l’una – it is 1 a.m. m. (or 1pm)
- e’ mezzogiorno – it is noon
- e’ mezzanotte – it’s midnight
- it is 13:00 – it is 13
- it’s 2:00 p.m. – it’s 2:00 p.m.
- it’s 3 p.m. m. – it’s 15 o’clock
- it’s 4 pm – it’s 4 pm
- it’s 5 pm – it’s 5 pm
- it’s 6 p.m. m. – it’s 18 o’clock
- it’s 7 pm –it’s 7 pm
- it’s 8 p.m. m. – it’s 20 o’clock
- It’s 9 p.m. m. – it’s 9:00 p.m.
- it’s 22:00 – it’s 22
- it’s 11 at night –it’s 11pm
- it is 12 noon – it is 12 pm
- alle 9 di mattina – at 9 am (at 9 in the morning)
- alle 9 di sera – at 9 p.m. (at 9 p.m.)
- sono le 9 e cinque – 9:05
- it was 9 ten – 9:10
- it was 9 and fifteen – 9:15
- it was 9 and venti – 9:20
- it was 9 and twenty-five – 9:25
- it was 9 thirty – 9:30
- sono le 9 e trentacinque– 9:35
- it’s only 10 minus 20 – 9:40
- it’s only 10 minus 15 – 9:45
- it’s only 10 minus 10 – 9:50
- Sono Le 10 Men 5 – 9:55
- it was 9 minus a quarter – 8:45
- what prays….?
- alle + time
- what now ci vediamo domani sera? – what time will we see each other tomorrow night?
- every 8pm– at 8pm
- a mezzogiorno
- a mezzanine
- what now do we see domani? – What time will we see each other tomorrow?
- verse 10 – around 10, ends
- verso mezzogiorno – around noon
- mezzanotte verse – around midnight
- What did I pray? – what time is it?
- it’s 10 in point – it’s ten o’clock
how to say “what time is it?”
When you want to ask someone what time is it? in Italian, you should say:
What am I praying for?
Note that, unlike English, both the word “ore” and the verb “essere” appear in their plural form. this makes sense, because time in Italian is a plural entity, just like numbers are plural.
when responding to “che ore sono?” you should say:
for example,
There are some exceptions to the “sono le” rule involving 1, noon and midnight.
what pray sono? vs che tempo fa?
what did you pray? is often confused with “che tempo fa?” which instead means “how’s the weather?”. The reason is that the word “tempo” is also used in Italian to describe the weather.
24-hour use vs. 12-hour use in Italy
the use of
24 hours is widespread in italy, especially when making appointments or in formal situations, such as in the workplace. worked. a train or plane ticket will also use the 24-hour system.
let’s see the use of 24 hours in Italian:
The use of 12 hours is also widely accepted in informal situations and is mainly used in spoken Italian. sometimes, however, it will be necessary to say whether the appointment is, for example, at 9 in the morning or at 9 at night. in this case, it’s common to be more precise about the part of the day, simply specifying whether something happens in the morning or at night, like so:
How to count the minutes when telling the time in Italian?
minutes past
until 35 minutes have passed, you can use the following pattern:
with fourth and half, the following pattern is preferred:
sound 9 a quarter – 9:15
sono le 9 e mezzo – 9:30
minutes to
after “last 35”, it is common in Italian to count the minutes until the next hour. so, instead of saying it’s 9:40 (sono le nove e quaranta), Italians would say “it’s twenty minutes to ten = sono le dieci meno venti”.
with the less fourth, the following pattern is preferred:
how to say “what time…?”
If you need to meet an Italian friend, you should ask her what time you’ll meet in Italian, right?
what time is it in italian?
and the answer is…
for example,
for noon and midnight, only the simple preposition “a” is used, however:
what does “verse” mean?
verse means “around” and is used together with the article le.
mezzogiorno (noon) and mezzanotte (midnight) do not use “le”.
what does “o’clock” mean?
Another common time expression in Italian is “in punto”.
on point means “on point”
