To ask what time it is in Italian, say che ore sono? or che ora è? To answer, say sono le plus the hour, for example sono le tre (it’s three o’clock), except for one o’clock, midday and midnight, which take è: è l’una, è mezzogiorno, è mezzanotte.
| Time | Italian |
|---|---|
| 1:00 | È l’una. |
| 3:00 | Sono le tre. |
| 3:05 | Sono le tre e cinque. |
| 3:15 | Sono le tre e un quarto. |
| 3:30 | Sono le tre e mezza. |
| 3:45 | Sono le quattro meno un quarto. |
| 3:50 | Sono le quattro meno dieci. |
| 12:00 (noon) | È mezzogiorno. |
| 12:00 (midnight) | È mezzanotte. |
How to Tell the Time in Italian
The most common phrases you’ll hear when asking for the time in Italy are che ore sono? or che ora è? (what time is it?). The former uses the plural noun ore (hours) while the latter uses the singular ora, but both are used interchangeably.
Do you know the Italian numbers already? Then you’re ready to answer these questions by using the following structure:
Sono le [ora].
It’s [hour].
We normally conjugate the verb essere (to be) in the third person plural because most of the hours are plural. The exception to this rule is for una (one), mezzogiorno (midday) and mezzanotte (midnight) where you use the singular form:
Sono le 17.
It’s 5 p.m. (17:00).
È l’una.
It’s 1:00.
The contraction of the definite article la to l’ before una occurs because una begins with a vowel. For all other hours, we use the plural article le.
How to Express the Time in Italian
Add Minutes to Your Time Expression
Now that you’ve got the hours down, let me explain to you how to add minutes. Just like in English, imagine you have to split the clock in two halves: from zero to 30 minutes and from 31 minutes to the whole hour.
In Italian, when the minutes are in the first half of the clock, we use the conjunction e (and) to link the hour with the minutes, as in:
Sono le due e cinque.
It’s 2:05. (lit: it’s two and five)
Sono le tre e venti.
It’s 3:20. (lit: it’s three and twenty)
If the minutes are in the second part of the clock, you can choose: either you keep on adding them as I showed you before, or you count backward to the next hour using the word meno (minus):
Sono le sei e cinquanta.
It’s 6:50. (lit. it’s six and fifty).
Sono le quattro meno dieci.
It’s 3:50. (lit: it’s four minus ten).
Sono le sette meno un quarto.
It’s 6:45. (it’s seven minus a quarter).
Quarter-Hours and Half-Hours
As you might have noticed from the previous example, we do have some expressions to indicate specific amounts of minutes, just like in English.
In the sentence I wrote before, un quarto refers to “a quarter” of an hour, just like the English expression. Another fixed expression is mezza or mezzo to say “half”:
Sono le sei e un quarto.
It’s 6:15.
Sono le nove e mezza.
It’s 9:30.
AM and PM in Italian
Unlike in English, we rarely use “AM” and “PM”. Instead, we rely on context to clarify whether a time is in the morning, afternoon, or evening. To specify this, you can simply add one of the following phrases after the time:
- Di mattina – In the morning
- Del pomeriggio – In the afternoon
- Di sera – In the evening
- Di notte – At night
Let me show you some examples:
Sono le otto di mattina.
It’s 8:00 in the morning.
Sono le otto di sera.
It’s 8:00 in the evening.
È l’una di notte.
It’s 1:00 at night.
The 24-Hour Clock
In writing and for schedules, such as trains, flights, cinemas and TV programmes, Italians use the 24-hour clock. In everyday speech they often prefer the 12-hour clock with di mattina, del pomeriggio or di sera. Both are correct, and the structure is the same:
Il treno parte alle diciassette e quarantacinque.
The train leaves at 17:45.
Il film inizia alle ventuno.
The film starts at 21:00.
- 13:00 – le tredici or l’una del pomeriggio
- 20:00 – le venti or le otto di sera
“In Punto” and “Verso”
Add in punto for “on the dot” and verso le for “around”:
Sono le tre in punto.
It’s three o’clock sharp.
Ci vediamo verso le otto.
We’ll meet around eight.
Telling the Time in Real Life
There are some further expressions I want you to know to properly master the time in Italian.
For example, if you want to set appointments or be informed about when events will take place, save this phrase:
A che ora…?
At what time…?
And then enrich it the way you need to. Here I’ll give you some practical examples:
A che ora parte il treno?
What time does the train leave?
A che ora arrivi?
What time are you arriving?
Another important word is the adverb quasi (almost). It is used exactly like its English counterpart, therefore you can say something like:
È quasi mezzogiorno.
It’s almost noon.
Finally, it’s useful to familiarize yourself with some common expressions related to time. These phrases can help you describe more nuanced situations involving time:
- In anticipo – Early
- In ritardo – Late
- Puntuale – On time
- Prima – Before
- Dopo – After
Use them in sentences like these:
Siamo in anticipo di dieci minuti.
We’re ten minutes early.
Il treno è in ritardo di mezz’ora.
The train is half an hour late.
“At” a Time: Using “Alle”
To say that something happens at a certain time, use the preposition a, which combines with the article: a + le = alle and a + l’una = all’una. Compare it with “it is”:
- Sono le otto. – It’s eight o’clock.
- Ci vediamo alle otto. – We’ll meet at eight o’clock.
La lezione inizia alle nove.
The lesson starts at nine.
Il negozio apre all’una.
The shop opens at one.
Ci vediamo a mezzogiorno.
See you at noon.
With mezzogiorno and mezzanotte, there is no article: a mezzogiorno, a mezzanotte.
How to Ask a Stranger for the Time
- Scusa, che ore sono? – Excuse me, what time is it? (informal)
- Scusa, hai l’ora? – Excuse me, do you have the time? (informal)
- Scusi, che ore sono? – Excuse me, what time is it? (formal)
- Scusi, sa che ore sono? – Excuse me, do you know what time it is? (formal)
“Time” in Italian: Ora, Tempo or Volta?
English uses “time” for three different ideas, and Italian uses three different words:
- ora – the time on the clock, and “hour”: Che ora è? (What time is it?). The plural is ore: Studio due ore. (I study for two hours.) See what “ora” means for more.
- tempo – time as a duration, and also the weather: Non ho tempo. (I don’t have time.)
- volta – an occasion: la prima volta (the first time), una volta (once). Learn ogni volta che for “every time”.
A timetable or opening hours is l’orario: Qual è l’orario di apertura? (What are the opening hours?)
Practice: Say These Times in Italian
Try to say each time out loud, then check your answer. You will need to count up to 59, so review the Italian numbers if you need to.
- 4:15 – Sono le quattro e un quarto.
- 7:30 – Sono le sette e mezza.
- 8:45 – Sono le nove meno un quarto.
- 10:10 – Sono le dieci e dieci.
- 5:50 – Sono le cinque e cinquanta. or Sono le sei meno dieci.
- 12:00 – È mezzogiorno.
