Time and appointments
Uhrzeit und Termine
Ask the time, understand full and half hours, and say when a simple appointment takes place.
Ask Wie spät ist es? for the current time. A full hour uses Es ist neun Uhr. German halb points forward to the next hour, so Es ist halb zehn means 9:30—halfway to ten, not 10:30. Use um before an exact appointment time: Der Termin ist um neun Uhr. Use am before a day: am Montag, am Dienstag. Morgen with a capital letter means morning, while morgen with a lowercase letter means tomorrow; the sentence context and capitalization matter.
Wie spät ist es?
What time is it?
Es ist neun Uhr.
It is nine o’clock.
Es ist halb zehn.
It is half past nine.
Der Termin ist um neun Uhr.
The appointment is at nine.
Separate the question from the answer: Wie spät ist es? → Es ist neun Uhr. For an appointment combine the day and time: am Montag um neun Uhr.
Use these patterns for work shifts, public transport, doctor’s appointments, and meeting someone.
Do not use am before a clock time. Say um neun Uhr. Do not read halb zehn as 10:30; it is 9:30.
am + day; um + clock time; halb + next hour.
Say three times, then make one appointment sentence with am + weekday and um + time.