{"id":6635,"date":"2020-05-18T14:30:26","date_gmt":"2020-05-18T14:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=6635"},"modified":"2020-05-18T14:31:40","modified_gmt":"2020-05-18T14:31:40","slug":"telling-time-in-dutch-a-refresher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/telling-time-in-dutch-a-refresher\/","title":{"rendered":"Telling Time in Dutch: A Refresher"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let’s take a look at how to tell time in Dutch, and some useful sentences and information around the time in the Netherlands. Always useful to be able to figure out the time, especially if you don’t have a watch or phone on you! Here’s some tips, things to look out for, and how it sounds!<\/p>\n

If you need a refresher on Dutch numbers and counting, check out this post.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Journey from One Hour to the Next<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Image by Renee Verberne at Unsplash.com<\/p><\/div>\n

We’ve explained before<\/a> how to tell the time, but here’s a quick refresher.<\/p>\n

While the Netherlands uses the 24-hour time system, so at 1 pm it is 13:00, we barely ever say\u00a0dertien uur\u00a0<\/em>(thirteen o’clock), but stick with \u00e9\u00e9n uur\u00a0<\/em>(one o’clock) etcetera. You could use the full 24\u00a0getallen\u00a0<\/em>(numbers), but it is quite uncommon.<\/p>\n

Let’s go over every common time within an hour. First the Dutch notation, then the English. Then how you would say that in Dutch, with a literal translation in quotes and an actual translation behind it. Let’s go from\u00a0drie uur\u00a0<\/em>to\u00a0vier uur<\/em>!<\/p>\n

15:00 – 3 pm<\/p>\n

drie uur<\/em> (“three hours”, three pm\/three o’clock)<\/p>\n

15:05 – 3:05<\/p>\n

vijf over drie <\/em>(“five over three”, five past three\/three oh five)<\/p>\n

15:10 – 3:10<\/p>\n

tien over drie <\/em>(“ten over three”, ten past three)<\/p>\n

15:15 – 3:15<\/p>\n

kwart over drie\u00a0<\/em>(“quarter over three”, quarter past three\/three fifteen)<\/p>\n

15:20 – 15:20<\/p>\n

Tien voor half vier\/twintig over drie <\/em>(“ten before half four<\/strong>\/twenty over three”, three twenty)<\/p>\n

15:25 – 3:25<\/p>\n

Vijf voor half vier\u00a0<\/em>(“five before half four<\/strong>“, three twenty-five)<\/p>\n

15:30 – 3:30<\/p>\n

half vier\u00a0<\/em>(“half four<\/strong>“, half three\/three thirty)<\/p>\n

15:35 – 3:35<\/p>\n

Vijf over half vier<\/em> (“five past half four<\/strong>“, three thirty-five)<\/p>\n

15:40 – 3:40<\/p>\n

Tien over half vier\/twintig voor vier\u00a0<\/em>(“ten over half four\/twenty before four”, ten past half three)<\/p>\n

15:45 – 3:45<\/p>\n

Kwart voor vier\u00a0<\/em>(“quarter before four”, quarter to four\/three forty-five)<\/p>\n

15:50 – 3:50<\/p>\n

Tien voor vier\u00a0<\/em>(“ten before four”, ten to four\/three fifty)<\/p>\n

15:55 – 3:55<\/p>\n

Vijf voor vier\u00a0<\/em>(“five before four”, five to four\/three fifty-five)<\/p>\n

16:00 – 4 pm<\/p>\n

vier uur\u00a0<\/em>(“four hours”, four pm\/four o’clock)<\/p>\n

There we are!<\/p>\n

Now, if you look closely, you can see a pattern. The Dutch switch halfway the hour, departing from the past hour towards the coming one.<\/p>\n

So first it is …\u00a0over\u00a0<\/em>(past) three. Then after the half hour, it becomes\u00a0voor\u00a0<\/em>(before, to).<\/p>\n

This logic is broken a bit with the minutes around the half hour. Here we’re arriving at the half hour and departing from it after it passed, too. In Dutch, the minutes between :20 and :30 are\u00a0voor half…\u00a0<\/em>(before\/to half…) and the minutes between :30 and :40 are over half…\u00a0<\/em>(over half…).<\/p>\n

And let’s shortly talk about that\u00a0half<\/em>. While in British English, I was super confused that\u00a0half three\u00a0<\/strong>would mean 3:30, NOT 2:30. In both my mother tongues, German and Dutch,\u00a0halb drei\u00a0<\/em>(in German) and\u00a0half drie\u00a0<\/em>(in Dutch) would mean 2:30. I think it’s easy to remember if you visualize, like I said above, the whole thing as a journey, from one hour to the next. And we’re building up to it, so once we’re halfway, we’re at, in this case,\u00a0half vier\u00a0<\/em>(“half four”, three thirty). I find the English doubly confusing, because when a half is added, it comes\u00a0after<\/span> the number, like “three-and-a-half”. Also, if we’re talking about a journey, if you go from London to Amsterdam, and you arrive in Brussels, are you then not “halfway to Amsterdam”? THAT makes sense in English, so perhaps try and remember the journey!<\/p>\n

Then, there’s the minutes past thirty. Again, we first have the\u00a0over half…\u00a0<\/em>minutes. Then the quarter to, ten to, five to, and the full hour. Pretty straightforward!<\/p>\n

Now, when you have odd minutes, like 3:52, 3:18 or 3:34, we’d say it in this same context. So like in English, 3:52 becomes “eight to four”, the Dutch say acht voor vier<\/em>. 3:18 becomes “three eighteen” in English and achttien over drie <\/em>in Dutch.<\/p>\n

And while 3:34 becomes “three thirty-four” in English, the Dutch use their revolve around the half hour for this, too. The Dutch say vier over half vier\u00a0<\/em>(“four past half four”).<\/p>\n

There you go! Wasn’t so hard, right?<\/p>\n

What about the 24-hour system?<\/strong><\/h2>\n