I can ask and say what time it is, give the time of a meeting — om half acht, van negen tot vijf — and say the day of the week.
Hoe laat is het? Telling time and the days
Hoe laat is het? Telling time and the days
Why: to ask and tell the time, and to name the day you meet.
Hoe laat is het? — Het is drie uur. half drie is 2:30: half an hour before three. British “half three” means 3:30: don't copy it.
kwart over twee is 2:15: a quarter past two. Count from the hour that has passed. kwart voor drie is 2:45.
Near the half hour, Dutch counts from the half: vijf voor half drie is 2:25, tien over half drie is 2:40. The table is next to this text.
“At three o'clock” is om drie uur, om kwart over vier. “From … to” is van acht tot vier. After a number, uur doesn't change.
Dutch writes days with a small letter, unlike English: maandag, dinsdag … zondag. “On Monday” is op maandag; “on the weekend” is in het weekend.
On a timetable the time is in figures — 14.30 uur; in speech it's in words — half drie. A clock on the wall is de klok, a watch is het horloge (to recognize).
Common mistakes:
• ×kwart over drie (for 2:15) → kwart over twee;
• ×om tien uren → om tien uur; ×op Maandag → op maandag.
Telling time
Near the half hour, you count from the half: vijf voor half, tien over half.
| Time | In Dutch |
|---|---|
| 3:00 | drie uur |
| 2:30 | half drie |
| 2:15 | kwart over twee |
| 2:45 | kwart voor drie |
| 2:25 | vijf voor half drie |
| 2:40 | tien over half drie |
| 2:10 | tien over twee |
| 2:50 | tien voor drie |
Days of the week
Days of the week are written with a lowercase letter.
| In Dutch | In English |
|---|---|
| maandag | Monday |
| dinsdag | Tuesday |
| woensdag | Wednesday |
| donderdag | Thursday |
| vrijdag | Friday |
| zaterdag | Saturday |
| zondag | Sunday |
Lesson notes
Hoe laat is het? Telling time and the days
Why: to ask and tell the time, and to name the day you meet.
Hoe laat is het? — Het is drie uur. half drie is 2:30: half an hour before three. British “half three” means 3:30: don't copy it.
kwart over twee is 2:15: a quarter past two. Count from the hour that has passed. kwart voor drie is 2:45.
Near the half hour, Dutch counts from the half: vijf voor half drie is 2:25, tien over half drie is 2:40. The table is next to this text.
“At three o'clock” is om drie uur, om kwart over vier. “From … to” is van acht tot vier. After a number, uur doesn't change.
Dutch writes days with a small letter, unlike English: maandag, dinsdag … zondag. “On Monday” is op maandag; “on the weekend” is in het weekend.
On a timetable the time is in figures — 14.30 uur; in speech it's in words — half drie. A clock on the wall is de klok, a watch is het horloge (to recognize).
Common mistakes:
• ×kwart over drie (for 2:15) → kwart over twee;
• ×om tien uren → om tien uur; ×op Maandag → op maandag.