{"id":70030,"date":"2018-08-30T02:42:36","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T06:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/time-in-italian\/"},"modified":"2024-11-25T22:50:57","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T03:50:57","slug":"time-in-italian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/italian\/time-in-italian\/","title":{"rendered":"Telling the Time in Italian: Essential Vocabulary, Phrases and More"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you need to make plans with your family, get to the airport to catch a flight or make a dinner reservation, knowing how to tell the time is essential in any language.<\/p>\n

Find everything you need to tell the time in Italian<\/strong> in this post, from asking for and giving the time to important numbers and essential phrases to talk about time.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How to Tell the Time in Italian<\/h2>\n

To tell the time in Italian you’ll begin with sono le, <\/em><\/strong>followed by the time. The exception of this is when it is 1 o’clock\u2014in that case, use the singular \u00e8.<\/em><\/strong> For example:<\/p>\n

Sono le<\/strong> otto <\/em>\u2014 It\u2019s 8 o’clock<\/p>\n

Sono le<\/strong> undici <\/em>\u2014 It’s 11 o’clock\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00c8<\/strong> l\u2019una <\/em>\u2014 It\u2019s 1 o\u2019clock\u00a0<\/p>\n

Telling the Exact Time<\/h3>\n

To tell the exact time in Italian, you’ll need to learn how to say the numbers 0 through 60 in Italian. We’ll go over that in more detail later in this post!<\/p>\n

Use this formula to state the time:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Sono le (ora) e (minuto) <\/em><\/strong>\u2014 It’s (hour):(minute)\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Here are some examples of this formula in use, remembering that the number “one” gets a slightly different treatment:<\/p>\n

    Sono le otto e venti <\/em>\u2014 It’s 8:20\u00a0<\/p>\n

    Sono le dodici e diciassette <\/em>\u2014 It’s 12:17<\/p>\n

    \u00c8 l\u2019una e sei <\/em>\u2014 It’s 1:06<\/p>\n

    Telling Time to \/ Past the hour<\/h3>\n

    Like in English, there are some times that have special terms. You can use either the term or the exact number, the same way that you can say either “half an hour” or “30 minutes.”<\/p>\n

    Here are the key terms to know for telling times to and from the hour:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Una mezz’ora<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 A half hour\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
    • Un quarto d’ora<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 A quarter hour<\/li>\n
    • Sono le (ora) meno un quarto <\/em><\/strong>\u2014 It\u2019s a quarter to (hour)<\/li>\n
    • Sono le (ora) e un quarto<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 It\u2019s a quarter past (hour)<\/li>\n
    • Sono le (ora) e mezzo<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 It\u2019s half past (hour)\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Check out some examples:<\/p>\n

      Sono le dodici meno un quarto <\/em>\u2014 It\u2019s a quarter to 12\u00a0<\/p>\n

      Sono le undici e mezzo <\/em>\u2014 It\u2019s half past 11\u00a0<\/p>\n

      Sono le sette e un quarto <\/em>\u2014 It\u2019s a quarter past 7\u00a0<\/p>\n

      Italian Numbers for Telling Time<\/h3>\n

      As you no doubt already know, the most important words for telling time in Italian (or in any language) are the numbers 1 to 60.<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Let’s start with the basics: 1-12.<\/p>\n

      1 \u2014 Uno<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

      2\u00a0\u2014 Due<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

      3\u00a0\u2014 Tre<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

      4\u00a0\u2014 Quattro<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

      5\u00a0\u2014 Cinque<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

      6\u00a0\u2014 Sei<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

      7\u00a0\u2014 Sette<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

      8\u00a0\u2014 Otto<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

      9\u00a0\u2014 Nove<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

      10 \u2014 Dieci<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

      11 \u2014 Undici<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

      12 \u2014 Dodici<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

      Take some time to learn the numbers through 60. Learn more in this article:<\/p>\n

      Numbers in Italian from 1-1000 and Beyond<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n