now

jetzt (yetst)

later

später (SHPET-er)

before

vor (for)

morning

Morgen (MOR-gen)

in the morning

morgens (MOR-genss)

tomorrow morning

morgen früh (MOR-gen FRUU)

afternoon

Nachmittag (NAHKH-mit-tahk)

in the afternoon

nachmittags (NAHKH-mit-tahks)

evening

Abend (AH-bent)

in the evening

abends (AH-bents)

night

Nacht (nahkht)

in the night

nachts (nahkhts)

Clock time

In German speaking countries as in many other European countries, it’s usual to use a 24 hour clock, ranging from 0.00 to 24.00. Okay, 24.00 is actually the same as 0.00, but one day later.

one o’clock AM

ein Uhr (IGHN oor)

two o’clock AM

zwei Uhr (TSVIGH oor)

noon

zwölf Uhr or Mittag (TSVOOLF oor or MIT-tahk)

one o’clock PM

dreizehn Uhr (DRIGH-tsayn oor)

two o’clock PM

vierzehn Uhr (FEER-tsayn oor)

midnight

Mitternacht or null Uhr or vierundzwanzig Uhr (MIT-er-nahkht or NOOL oor or FEER-oont-TSVAHN-tsikh oor)

Expressing “fractional hours” differs slightly among various regions of Germany. The “normal” way of doing it is:

• Quarter past one – Viertel nach eins or Viertel zwei

• Half past one – Halb zwei (half two)

• A quarter to two – Viertel vor zwei or Dreiviertel zwei

Duration

_____ minute(s)

_____ Minute(n) (mih-NOO-tuh [mih-NOO-ten])

_____ hour(s)

_____ Stunde(n) (SHTOON-duh [SHTOON-den)

_____ day(s)

_____ Tag(e) (TAHK [TAH-guh])

_____ week(s)

_____ Woche(n) (VOKH-uh [VOKH-en])

_____ month(s)

_____ Monat(e) (MOH-naht [moh-NAH-tuh])

_____ year(s)

_____ Jahr(e) (YAHR[-uh])

in _____

Im Jahr _____ (im YAHR _____)

Days

today

heute (HOY-tuh)

the day before yesterday

vorgestern (for-GESS-tern)

yesterday

gestern (GESS-tern)

tomorrow

morgen (MOR-gen)

the day after tomorrow

übermorgen (uuber-MOR-gen)

this week

diese Woche (DEE-zuh VOH-khuh)

last week

letzte Woche (LETS-tuh VOH-khuh)

the week before last week

vorletzte Woche (for-LETS-tuh VOH-khuh)

next week

nächste Woche (NEX-tuh VOH-khuh)

the week after next week

übernächste Woche (uuber-NEX-tuh VOH-khuh)

The week is considered starting on monday in germany.

Monday

Montag (MON-tahk)

Tuesday

Dienstag (DEENS-tahk)

Wednesday

Mittwoch (MIT-vokh)

Thursday

Donnerstag (DON-ers-tahk)

Friday

Freitag (FRIGH-tahk)

Saturday

Samstag (ZAMS-tahk), in some regions “Sonnabend” (ZON-ah-bent)

Sunday

Sonntag (ZON-tahk)

Months

January

Januar (YAH-noo-ahr), in Austria “Jänner” (YEH-nna)

February

Februar (FAY-broo-ahr.), in Austria “Feber” (FAY-ber)

March

März (mehrts)

April

April (ah-PRILL)

May

Mai (migh)

June

Juni (YOO-nee)

July

Juli (YOO-lee)

August

August (ow-GOOST)

September

September (zep-TEM-ber)

October

Oktober (ok-TOH-ber)

November

November (noh-VEM-ber)

December

Dezember (day-TSEM-ber)

Writing Time and Date

In the clock time, hours and minutes are separated by a ‘.’ instead of ‘:’, but the latter is also widely used. Another usual way is to write the minutes raised like an exponent.

The date is always written in the order day, month, year, e.g.:

12/24/2003 is in German 24.12.2003. 24th of December 2003 is in German 24. Dezember 2003

Don’t get confused about that, especially if you’re an American!