19:45 Uhr: neunzehn Uhr fünfundvierzig
Saying clock times with the 24-hour clock
FormStunde + Uhr + Minute (z. B. 19:45 = neunzehn Uhr fünfundvierzig)
Meaning and usage
For timetables, announcements, appointments and other formal or official speech, German usually uses the 24-hour clock. You read the time as hours first, then the word Uhr, then the minutes: 19:45 is neunzehn Uhr fünfundvierzig, and 14:30 is vierzehn Uhr dreißig. In writing you often see 19.45 Uhr or 19:45 Uhr, with a full stop or a colon.
This system avoids any need for am and pm: 9:00 Uhr is nine in the morning and 21:00 Uhr is nine in the evening. Note that Uhr stands between the hours and the minutes when you speak; leaving it out (as in neunzehn fünfundvierzig) also occurs, mostly in fast or informal speech. A common mistake is reading 19:45 as neunzehn fünfundvierzig Uhr, with Uhr at the end instead of after the hour.
Examples 4
Die Bibliothek ist von 9:00 Uhr bis 20:00 Uhr geöffnet.
The library is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Ich habe am Montag um 14.30 Uhr einen Termin.
I have an appointment at 2:30 on Monday.
Ich treffe mich um 13:30 Uhr mit dem Professor.
I'm meeting the professor at 1:30 p.m.
Wie wäre es am 20. Oktober um 14.30 Uhr?
How about October 20th at 2:30 p.m.?
Test yourself
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1 Sprachbausteine
Der Zug fährt erst am Abend, um .
Show answer
Correct answer: zwanzig Uhr zehn
The train leaves in the evening, so the 24-hour time is after twelve: 20:10. It is read as hours, then Uhr, then minutes: zwanzig Uhr zehn.
- zwanzig zehn Uhr Uhr comes after the hours, not at the end.
- Uhr zwanzig zehn Uhr cannot come first; the hours come first.
- zehn Uhr zwanzig is 10:20, a morning time.
In this topic: Numbers, dates and time
- einundzwanzig, siebenundvierzig numbers 21 to 99: ones first, joined by und
- eins, ein Buch, einundzwanzig the many faces of the number one
- der erste, der zweite, der zwanzigste saying first, second, twentieth with the right endings
- der dritte Mai, am dritten Mai saying and writing dates with ordinals
- 1998, im Jahr 1998 saying a year: bare, with im Jahr, never with in
- halb acht = 7:30 halb + next hour means half before it
- Viertel nach sieben, zehn vor acht saying minutes past and to the hour with nach and vor
- 19:45 Uhr: neunzehn Uhr fünfundvierzig Saying clock times with the 24-hour clock
- 3,50 €: drei Euro fünfzig saying prices: Euro then cents, no plural -s
Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. See sources.