#how to tell time in danish
Check out this lesson at danishwithemi.com
In this lesson we are going to learn how to tell time in Danish.
The 24-hour clock
In Denmark the 24-hour clock is used (which is referred to as the “military time” in the US). The 24-hour clock is divided into 24 hours, ranging from midnight at 00:00 to midnight at 24:00 (or rather 23:59, which is the last minute of the day before it changes to 00:00 again). The minutes stays the same (ranging from 0 to 59).
Let’s try and convert some 12-hour clock times into 24-hour clock times:
12:00 a.m. = 00:00
01:02 a.m. = 01:02
08:59 a.m. = 08:59
09:00 a.m. = 09:00
12:00 p.m. = 12:00
02:30 p.m. = 14:30
07:00 p.m. = 19:00
10:45 p.m. = 22:45
Keep in mind that the 24-hour clock system is used primarily in written language and on digital clocks like phones and computers. In spoken language it gets slightly different. Let’s look into how.
Spoken time
As I just mentioned, the 24-hour clock system is used in written language and digitally. If you see a physical clock (e.g. on people’s wristband or hanging on the wall) it is going to be the 12-hour clock system. The same applies for spoken Danish. If you asked someone what time it is and, let’s say the time is 02:00 p.m., they wouldn’t say “it’s 14 o'clock”. Instead, they would say “it’s 2 o’clock”.
Well, how would I know whether it’s a.m. or p.m. then? you might ask me, and my answer to that is: it’s all about context. You will most likely see that’s it’s bright outside and therefore it’s 02:00 p.m. and not a.m and vice versa. You MAY experience that someone would say “14” rather than “2”, because they would look directly at the digital clock and let you know what the time is digitally (AKA military time).
Half past
Let’s say that the time is 04:30 p.m. (16:30). In spoken English you would say “half past four”. In spoken Danish it’s different and, instead, you would say “halv fem”, which literally translates to “half five”. So, instead of talking about the 30 minutes as pastfour, in Danish you would talk about the 30 minutes as tofive. Let’s look at some examples:
01:30 a.m. (01:30): Den er halv to (2) = It’s half past one (1)
08:30 a.m. (08:30): Klokken er halv ni (9) = The time is half past eight (8)
04:30 p.m. (16:30): Klokken er halv fem (5) = The time is half past four (4)
07:30 p.m. (19:30): Den er halv otte (8) = It’s half past seven (7)
This way of thinking about the 30 minutes is of course different and will take some getting used to.
Quarter to/past
Unlike the tricky half hour system that we just learned about, the quarter minute system is the same in English and Danish. Phew! This means that it’s only a matter of translating. Let’s look at some examples:
02:15 a.m. (02:15): Klokken er kvart over to (2) = The time is quarter past two (2)
09:15 p.m. (21:15): Den er kvart over ni (9) = It’s quarter past nine (9)
02:45 a.m. (02:45): Klokken er kvart i tre (3) = The time is quarter to three (3)
09:45 p.m. (21:45): Den er kvart i ti (10) = It’s quarter to ten (10)
Minutes
We learned about the half hour and the quarters. What about the minutes? Essentially, it’s the same as in English and is just a matter of translating. However, since the half hour system is slightly different, so is the minutes close to the half hour (e.g. 25 and 35). Let’s look at some examples:
07:05 a.m. (07:05): Fem (5) minutter over syv (7) = Five (5) minutes past seven (7)
07:10 a.m. (07:10): Ti (10) minutter over syv (7) = Ten (10) minutes past seven (7)
07:17 a.m. (07:17): Sytten (17) minutter over syv (7) = Seventeen (17) minutes past seven (7)
07:20 a.m. (07:20): Tyve (20) minutter over syv (7) = Twenty (20) minutes past seven (7)
07:25 a.m. (07:25): Fem (5) minutter i halv otte (8) = Twenty five (25) minutes past seven (7) (note: it’s okay to directly translate and say “femogtyve minutter over syv” instead)
07:35 a.m. (07:35): Fem (5) minutter over halv otte (8) = Twenty five (25) minutes to eight (8) (note: it’s okay to directly translate and say “femogtyve minutter i otte” instead)
07:40 a.m. (07:40): Tyve (20) minutter i otte (8) = Twenty (20) minutes to eight (8)
07:43 a.m. (07:43): Sytten (17) minutter i otte (8) = Seventeen (17) minutes to eight (8)
07:55 a.m. (07:55): Fem (5) minutter i otte (8) = Five (5) minutes to eight (8)
Example sentences
Hvad er klokken? = What’s the time?
Undskyld, ved du hvad klokken er? = Excuse me, do you know what time it is?
Klokken er kvart i fem = The time is quarter to five
Den er syv minutter over syv = It’s seven minutes past seven
Vi mødes kvart over tre = We meet quarter past three
Timen starter klokken otte i morgen = The class starts at eight tomorrow
Hvornår kan du være der? = When can you be there?
Jeg kan være der klokken tolv = I can be there at twelve o’clock
Lesson summary
This lesson contained a lot of information, so let’s have a quick recap:
- In Denmark the 24-hour clock system is used, meaning that the clock ranges from 00:00 to 23:59 and is used in written language and digitally.
- In spoken language the 12-hour clock system is used (without a.m. and p.m.), which requires you to think about the context (e.g. whether it’s dark or bright outside).
- If the time is half past five (5:30) it translates to “halv seks” in Danish (literally “half six” in English). I.e. in Danish the half hour is to something and not past something.
- “Quarter past” translates to “kvart over” in Danish. Example: quarter past four (4) = kvart over fire (4).
- “Quarter to” translates to “kvart i” in Danish. Example: quarter to four (4) = kvart i fire (4).
- If the time is twenty five minutes past three (03:25), the time would be “fem minutter i halv fire” in Danish (literally “five minutes to half four” in English).
- If the time is twenty five minutes to four (03:35), the time would be “fem minutter over halv fire” in Danish (literally “five minutes past half four” in English).
If you have any questions or feedback feel free to submit a question/feedback at danishwithemi.tumblr.com/ask and I will answer as soon as possible.
