German telling time game
Sixteen entries covering the question and the answers, including the one that catches every English speaker. Halb vier is not half past four; it is half past three, because German counts toward the coming hour rather than away from the last one.
16 words 5 games Free · no signup
Five games run on this set, since most entries are whole clauses. Kraken Escape is the right one here: it shows a time expression against an English meaning and asks whether it is right, which is exactly the judgement halb vier demands.
The 16 words you will practise
| German | English | Say it like |
|---|---|---|
| Wie spät ist es? | What time is it? | vee shpayt ist es |
| Es ist ein Uhr | It is one o'clock | es ist ine oor |
| Es ist zwei Uhr | It is two o'clock | es ist tsvy oor |
| um acht Uhr | at eight o'clock | oom akht oor |
| Viertel nach drei | quarter past three | FEER-tel nakh dry |
| Viertel vor vier | quarter to four | FEER-tel for feer |
| halb vier | half past three | halp feer |
| zehn nach fünf | ten past five | tsayn nakh fuunf |
| zwanzig vor sechs | twenty to six | TSVAN-tsikh for zeks |
| der Morgen | the morning | dehr MOR-gen |
| der Vormittag | the late morning | dehr FOR-mit-tahk |
| der Mittag | midday | dehr MIT-tahk |
| der Nachmittag | the afternoon | dehr NAKH-mit-tahk |
| der Abend | the evening | dehr AH-bent |
| die Nacht | the night | dee nakht |
| die Mitternacht | midnight | dee MIT-ter-nakht |
Want the explanations rather than the drill? Read the German time and dates lesson.
5 games run on this set
- Sky Rescue: 10 rounds
- Pop Quiz: 10 rounds
- Kraken Escape: 48 rounds
- Warp Run: 10 rounds
- Flooded Hold: 6 rounds
Questions
Why does halb vier mean 3:30?
Because it means half of the way to four, not half an hour past four. Halb eins is 12:30, halb zwei is 1:30, and so on. Getting this wrong by an hour is the single most common German time mistake an English speaker makes.
Viertel nach or Viertel vor?
Nach is past and vor is to, so Viertel nach drei is quarter past three and Viertel vor vier is quarter to four. Both point at the same fifteen minutes from opposite ends.
Does Germany use the 24-hour clock?
In writing, almost always. Timetables, tickets and opening hours all run to 24 hours. In speech people mix both, and the set drills the spoken forms.
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