Italian telling time game
Fifteen entries covering the question and the answers. One o'clock is the odd one: è l'una, singular, because it is one hour. Everything from two onward is plural, sono le due, sono le tre.
15 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.
The 15 words you will practise
| Italian | English | Say it like |
|---|---|---|
| Che ore sono? | What time is it? | keh OH-reh SOH-noh |
| È l'una | It is one o'clock | eh LOO-nah |
| Sono le due | It is two o'clock | SOH-noh leh DOO-eh |
| alle otto | at eight o'clock | AL-leh OT-toh |
| e un quarto | quarter past | eh oon KWAR-toh |
| e mezza | half past | eh MED-dzah |
| meno un quarto | quarter to | MEH-noh oon KWAR-toh |
| Sono le tre e dieci | It is ten past three | SOH-noh leh treh eh DYEH-chee |
| Sono le sei meno venti | It is twenty to six | SOH-noh leh say MEH-noh VEN-tee |
| la mattina | the morning | lah mat-TEE-nah |
| il pomeriggio | the afternoon | eel poh-meh-REED-joh |
| la sera | the evening | lah SEH-rah |
| la notte | the night | lah NOT-teh |
| mezzogiorno | midday | med-dzoh-JOR-noh |
| mezzanotte | midnight | med-dzah-NOT-teh |
Want the explanations rather than the drill? Read the Italian 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 is one o'clock è l'una and not sono l'una?
Because Italian agrees the verb with the number of hours. One hour takes the singular è, two or more take the plural sono. Mezzogiorno and mezzanotte are also singular, since each is one thing.
How does meno work?
It counts backwards from the coming hour. Sono le sei meno venti is twenty to six, literally six hours minus twenty. Past the half hour Italians switch to it, exactly as English switches from past to to.
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