![\"Screen](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-02-at-9.44.28-AM.png\")
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Telling time in German can be a wee bit confusing.<\/p>\n
Yes, f\u00fcnf nach halb sechs<\/em>\u00a0literally translates to “five past half six” (f\u00fcnf<\/em> = five,\u00a0nach<\/em> = after,\u00a0halb<\/em> = half,\u00a0sechs<\/em> = six)\u00a0where in German “half six” means five-thirty, or “halfway to six” (Brits, however, use “half six” to mean “six thirty,” further confusing matters). “Half” in German is taken in the sense of “we’re halfway\u00a0to<\/em>,” not “halfway\u00a0after<\/em>.” Since saying\u00a0halb sechs\u00a0<\/em>is actually pretty quick, they add “to” or “past” to that to make more specific times, hence “five past half six.” Sounds odd in English, but in German it actually makes sense.<\/p>\n But, of course, it gets more complicated.<\/p>\n Like\u00a0in the comic, dreiviertel acht<\/em> is literally “three-quarters eight” (drei<\/em> = three,\u00a0viertel<\/em> = quarter,\u00a0acht<\/em> = eight) as though seven o’clock is\u00a0complete, and now we’re building towards eight\u00a0by\u00a0stacking quarters on top of one another.\u00a0Perhaps more confusing is\u00a0viertel acht<\/em>, literally “quarter eight,” which is\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>8:15 (“quarter after eight”) or 7:45 (“quarter before eight”) as you might think, but 7:15\u00a0<\/em>(“we’re one quarter of the way towards eight,” basically).<\/p>\n Now, to be fair, this “quarter eight” and “three-quarters eight” business\u00a0far less common in Germany than hearing the usual\u00a0viertel nach\u00a0sieben<\/em>\u00a0(“quarter after seven”) or\u00a0viertel vor acht<\/em> (“quarter to eight”), which is of course the easier and more logical way to sound off the time.<\/p>\n But, of course, it gets more complicated.<\/p>\n Germans use\u00a0both<\/em> the 12 and the 24-hour clock when telling you the time.\u00a0Usually<\/em> you can count on\u00a0the 12-hour clock (um acht Uhr Abends<\/em> = “at eight o’clock [in the] evening”), but by no means always. You’re also going to hear a lot of\u00a0um zwanzig Uhr<\/em> (“at twenty o’clock”), or if you’re unlucky,\u00a0dreiviertel zwanzig<\/em> (“three-quarters twenty,” which is, if you’ve been paying attention…7:45pm) or\u00a0f\u00fcnf nach halb zwanzig<\/em> (“five past halfway to twenty,” or…7:35). It won’t always happen, but it certainly can, so you’re better off finally learning what in the world 19:00 is supposed to be.<\/p>\n And I believe that’s as complicated as it gets in German! Once you get used to it, it’s not that difficult. Nowhere near as difficult as those poor suckers in Thailand,\u00a0trying their best\u00a0to decode the\u00a0baffling\u00a0nightmare that is telling time in Thai<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Telling time in German can be a wee bit confusing. Yes, f\u00fcnf nach halb sechs\u00a0literally translates to “five past half six” (f\u00fcnf = five,\u00a0nach = after,\u00a0halb = half,\u00a0sechs = six)\u00a0where in German “half six” means five-thirty, or “halfway to six” (Brits, however, use “half six” to mean “six thirty,” further confusing matters). “Half” in German…<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-02-at-9.44.28-AM-350x325.png\")