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UHRZEIT

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98 views5 pages

UHRZEIT

Uploaded by

dheerajsgaur
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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LESSON 30 – UHRZEIT / TIME

OBJECTIVE

 Introduction to time in German


 Introduction to various features on telling time in German
 Different contexts of telling time in German

SUMMARY

In this session, we are going to focus on how to tell time in German. We would also focus on the
various aspects involved in telling time in German. After learning these aspects, we would focus on
how to tell time in different contexts and the various phrases and expressions associated with it.
Also, with the help of examples and exercises these aspects would be discussed in an elaborate
manner.

TEXT

In German, time is called either as ‘Uhrzeit’ or ‘Zeit’. Both these nouns carry the feminine article
‘die’. The noun ‘Uhrzeit’ is a composite noun, i.e. it is a combination of two nouns: ‘die Uhr’ and ‘die
Zeit’. The noun ‘die Uhr’ means a clock or a watch and ‘die Zeit’ means time.

It is important to remember following aspects which are associated with telling time in German:

1. An hour is divided into ‘quarters’ (Viertel) or ‘halves’ (halb)


2. In order to say ‘half past’, one uses the phrase ‘halb’ and the following hour. For instance, if the
time is 11:30, we say ‘halb zwölf’.This is a common way to tell time. One can also say ‘elf Uhr
dreiβig’.
3. In order to say ‘after’, one can use the preposition ‘nach’. For example, if the time is 6:10, we
say ‘zehn nach sechs’. Also, this time can be expressed as ‘sechs Uhr zehn’.
4. To say ‘quarter past’, one can say ‘Viertel nach’. If the time is 2:15, we can say ‘Viertel nach
zwei’. One can also tell this time as ‘zwei Uhr fünfzehn’.
5. We use the preposition ‘vor’ to depict ‘to’ or ‘before’. If the time is 5:45, we can say ‘Viertel vor
sechs’, which is a common expression. Or we can also say ‘fünf Uhr fünfundvierzig’. If the time is
8:50, we can say ‘zehn vor neun’, which means ‘ten minutes to nine’.
6. The word ‘Uhr’ in German denotes ‘o’clock’ in English. If the time is 2:00, in German it is ‘zwei
Uhr’.
7. If one has to tell time precisely, one has to use the word ‘Uhr’ while telling time. For example, if
the time is 9:40, one can say ‘neun Uhr vierzig’.

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8. In German, the 24 hour clock format is used. This is used to tell the official and unofficial time.
Official time is used in time tables for public transport, official meetings etc. Unofficial time is
used in informal contexts.

In German, following two expressions are used to ask time and tell time.

Wie spät ist es? Es ist…


Wie viel Uhr ist es?

As you can see, both the questions to ask time are W – Questions with the verb ‘ist’ at the second
place. The answer for these questions begins with ‘es ist’. One can also answer these questions
without using ‘es ist’.
Now, let us look at some examples to understand how to tell time with the above given expressions:

Wie spät ist es? / Wie viel Uhr ist es? – Es ist 3:30

The above given time can be either expressed as ‘halb vier’ or ‘drei Uhr dreiβig’. This time is
expressed in informal contexts.

Wie spät ist es? / Wie viel Uhr ist es? – Es ist15:30
The above given time is expressed in official context. It means 3:30 pm.

TELLING TIME IN SPECIFIC CONTEXTS

Here, we would focus on various contexts on how to tell time.

Wann beginnt der Unterricht? – Der Unterricht beginnt um 2 Uhr.


Um wie viel Uhr beginnt der Unterricht? Um 2 Uhr beginnt der Unterricht.

In the above given sentences, on the left side two forms of similar questions are given, which are
normally used to ask about any activity related to time. Both the questions are W-Questions and
they always have an answer which involves the preposition ‘um’ followed by the specific time. On
the right side, the answers to the two questions are provided. As we know that in German, keeping
the verb at the second position, we can change the position of the other elements of the sentence,
both the answers convey the same message. It is important to remember that whenever a question
with these W-Questions is asked, the answer consists of ‘um’ and the time element.

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CASE STUDY – This lesson does not require any case study.

FAQs

Q: Is it always necessary to tell the time in a complete sentence?


A: No, not always. If the question concerns telling time, one needs to say the time and not the
complete sentence.

Q: Are there other ways of telling time in German?


A: Yes, in certain other German speaking countries like Austria and Switzerland, there are other
expressions used to tell time.

Q: Is time expressed in ‘am’ or ‘pm’ format in German?


A: No, the ‘am’ or ‘pm’ format is not used in German to tell time. Instead, the 24 hour format is used
to tell time related activities, i.e. if they are taking place forenoon or afternoon.

ASSIGNMENT

1. Please revise the contents of the video and try to tell time from various examples in your
vicinity.
2. With the help of verbs, please write few sentences with W-Questions related to time.
3. With the help of various tutorials and links, please make short dialogues related to time.

QUIZ - Choose the correct response from the given options.

1. Quarter past in German is expressed as:


a) Es ist Viertel vor.
b) Es ist Viertel nach
c) Es ist Viertel um
d) Es ist um Viertel um

2. Es ist fünf vor zwei.


a) 1:55
b) 1:05
c) 2:05
d) 2:55

3. Es ist zehn nach drei.


a) 2:40
b) 3:10
c) 3:15
d) 10:03

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4. Es ist fünf nach halb sechs.
a) 5:35
b) 5:25
c) 6:35
d) 6:30

5. Es ist Viertel nach sieben.


a) 7:45
b) 7:15
c) 7:30
d) 7:10

6. Um halbzehn beginnt der Unterricht.


a) 9:30
b) 9:00
c) 10:30
d) 10:00

7. Wann fährt der Bus ab? Der Bus fährt um zehn vor sieben ab.
a) 6:55
b) 6:50
c) 7:10
d) 10:07

8. It is one o’clock. In German it is expressed as:


a) Es ist eins.
b) Es ist eine Uhr.
c) Es ist eins Uhr.
d) Es ist um eins Uhr.

9. Es ist fünfzehn vor elf. This means:


a) Es ist Viertel vor elf.
b) Es ist halb elf.
c) Es ist elf Uhr fünfzehn.
d) Es ist zehn Uhr fünfzehn.

10. Es ist fünf vor halb acht. This means:


a) 7:25
b) 7.30
c) 8:25
d) 8:30

TUTORIALS
http://www.dummies.com/languages/german/basic-german-telling-time/
https://german.tolearnfree.com/free-german-lessons/free-german-exercise-17376.php
https://www.dw.com/downloads/26607581/lektion-8pdf.pdf
https://www.dw.com/overlay/media/en/audiotrainer-lektion-8-the-time-
uhrzeiten/4931562/4289537
https://www.dw.com/overlay/media/de/deutschtrainer-17-uhrzeit/19455778/19518570
https://www.dw.com/overlay/media/de/deutschtrainer-17-uhrzeit/42752556/19518570
https://www.dw.com/overlay/media/en/deutschtrainer-17-telling-time/35921855/19518570

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LINKS
https://www.dw.com/downloads/36344314/uhrzeitenen.pdf
https://learngerman.dw.com/en/stating-the-time-um-von-bis/gr-38303646
https://learngerman.dw.com/en/time-12-hour-clock-1/gr-38303328
https://learngerman.dw.com/en/time-specification-12-hour-clock-2/gr-38303812
https://learngerman.dw.com/en/time-specification-wie-lange/gr-38302765
https://learngerman.dw.com/en/time-specification-24-hour-clock/gr-38303201
https://learngerman.dw.com/en/time-specification-wann/gr-38302317

REFERENCES
Funk, H. Studio d. A1, Cornelsen, Berlin / Goyal Saab, Delhi

GLOSSARY

die Uhr, -en – clock, watch


die Zeit – time
die Konferenz – conference

der Unterricht– class


der Supermarkt – supermarket
Viertel nach – quarter
nach – after
vor – before, to
halb – half/ halves

beginnen – to begin
abfahren – to depart
öffnen – to open
enden – to end

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