Telling the Time
Now
that you have familiarized yourself with German numbers it should be
relatively easy for you to tell the time. The simplest way to
question someone about the time is by saying:
- German: "Wieviel Uhr ist es?"
- Pronunciation: "Vee-feel ewR ist es?"
- English: "What time is it?"
What time is it?
To
answer a question about time, start out with Es ist .
as in the examples below:
- German: "Es ist."
- Pronunciation: "es ist."
- English: "It is."
Look
at the following table for some common phrases to help you tell the
time:
German
|
Pronunciation
|
English
|
Es ist ein Uhr
|
es ist ayn ewR
|
It is 1:00
|
Es ist fünf
(Minuten)
nach zwei
|
es ist fünf
(mee-new-tuhn)
naCH tsvay
|
It is 2:05
|
Es ist zehn nach halb acht
|
es ist tsehn nACH hAlp ACHt
|
It is 8:40
|
Es ist zwanzig vor neun
|
es ist tsvAn-tsik foR noyn
|
It is 8:40
|
Es ist Mitternacht
|
es ist mi-tuhR-nACHt
|
It is midnight
|
Es ist Mittag
|
es ist mi-tahk
|
It is noon
|
Cardinal Numbers
One,
two, three, four. as children, one of the first things we learn to do
is count. Numbers that express amounts are known as cardinal
numbers . The sooner you learn cardinal numbers in German
the better, because you're going to need to use numbers for
everything from renting a car to locating your gate in an airport.
Below is a table of numbers for you to learn, with the German word
and how to pronounce it.
German
|
Pronunciation
|
English
|
null
|
nool
|
0
|
eins
|
aynts
|
1
|
zwei
|
tsvay
|
2
|
drei
|
dRay
|
3
|
vier
|
feeR
|
4
|
fünf
|
fünf
|
5
|
sechs
|
zeks
|
6
|
sieben
|
zee-buhn
|
7
|
acht
|
aCHt
|
8
|
neun
|
noyn
|
9
|
zehn
|
tseyn
|
10
|
elf
|
elf
|
11
|
zwülf
|
tsvülf
|
12
|
dreizehn
|
dRay-tseyn
|
13
|
vierzehn
|
feeR-tseyn
|
14.
|
zwanzig
|
tsvAn-tsik
|
20
|
einundzwanzig
|
ayn-oont-tsvAn-tsik
|
21
|
dreißig
|
dRay-sik
|
30
|
vierzig
|
feeR-tsik
|
40.
|
hundert
|
hoon-deRt
|
100
|
hunderteins
|
hoon-deRt-aynts
|
101
|
zweihundert
|
tsvay-hoon-deRt
|
200.
|
tausend
|
tou-zent
|
1000
|
zweitausend
|
tsvay-tou-zent
|
2000.
|
hunderttausend
|
hoon-deRt-tou-zent
|
100,000.
|
eine Million
|
aynuh mee-leeohn
|
1,000,000
|
zwei Millionen
|
tsvay mee-leeoh-nuhn
|
2,000,000.
|
eine Milliarden
|
ayn mee-lee-AR-duh
|
1,000,000,000
|
