Key words to tell time in Italian

Have you ever found yourself without a working phone, a watch on your wrist, and a desperate need to know the time? It’s in these moments that knowing how to ask for time can come in handy! Whether you're preparing for a trip to Italy or you're just fascinated by the language, mastering the art of telling time in Italian is a skill that's always useful!

How to ask the time in Italian

Before we dive into how to tell time in Italian, let’s learn how to ask the most important question: what time is it? Common phrases that are simple and direct are:

They are equally effective, so you can choose which one you prefer.

If you stop someone on the street, you may need to be more polite. Here's how to do it:

Need to know when a specific event is happening, like when a great concert starts or when a museum opens? In this case the phrase to use is when… (when…):

If you want to know how long something will last or what hours a place will be open, remember Till what time…? (Till what time…?):

Tell time in Italian using 12-hour format

To tell the time in Italian you usually start with I am (significance”yes“) followed by the feminine definite article this before saying the numbers. However, there is an exception at the one o'clock position, you can use and (significance”yes“) and the singular feminine definite article this (this).

Instead, to express when something happened, you must use a preposition exist (exist) or all' One o'clock.

Use the feminine article before a number because No (Hour) is feminine in Italian.

• It's one o'clock/one o'clock – now/one o’clock
• It's two o'clock/two o'clock – now/two o’clock
• It's three o'clock/three o'clock – It’s now/three o’clock
• It's four o'clock/four o'clock – It’s now/four o’clock
• five o'clock/five o'clock – Now/five o’clock
• It's six o'clock/six o'clock – It’s now/six o’clock
• It's seven o'clock/seven o'clock – It’s now/seven o’clock
• It's eight o'clock/eight o'clock – Now/eight o’clock
• It's nine o'clock/nine o'clock – It’s now/nine o’clock
• ten o'clock/ten o'clock – It’s ten o’clock
• It's eleven o'clock / It's eleven o'clock – It’s now/eleven o’clock
• It's twelve o'clock/twelve o'clock – now/twelve o’clock

For example:

one: Excuse me, what time is it now? (Excuse me, what time is it now?)
Second: It's one o'clock now (It's one o'clock now)
one: Excuse me, when will the next bus come? (Excuse me, when will the next bus pass by?)
Second: It's one o'clock! (One o'clock!)

How to say AM and PM in Italian

In Italian, when you use the 12 hour clock and want to avoid any confusion between day and night (because there is no “AM” or “PM” in Italian), you need to add something extra after the time :

• in the morning (in the morning)
• afternoon/afternoon (afternoon)
• night (night)
• night (night)

So instead of saying “8 AM” or “8 PM” Italians would say 8 a.m. or 8pm Whether it's morning or night, it's clearly visible. Here are some examples:

• It was a long journey and I got home at one o'clock in the morning. (It’s a long journey and I’ll get home at 1 a.m..)

• My shift starts at 8pm tomorrow. (My shift starts at 8pm tomorrow night.)

Italian 24-hour time format

Although the 12-hour clock is common in Italy, the 24-hour clock is also used, particularly in transport timetables, business and wider written communication. Here's how it works:

• 1 a.m.: It's one o'clock/one o'clock
• 2 a.m.: It's two o'clock/two o'clock
• 3 a.m.: It's three o'clock/three o'clock
• 4 a.m.: It's four o'clock/four o'clock
• 5 a.m.: five o'clock/five o'clock
• 6 a.m.: It's six o'clock/six o'clock
• 7 a.m.: It's seven o'clock/seven o'clock
• 8 a.m.: It's eight o'clock/eight o'clock
• 9 a.m.: It's nine o'clock/nine o'clock
• 10 a.m.: ten o'clock/ten o'clock
• 11 a.m.: It's eleven o'clock / It's eleven o'clock
• 12 noon: It's twelve o'clock/twelve o'clock
• 1 p.m.: Thirteen years old/Thirteen years old
• 2pm: fourteen years old/fourteen years old
• 3pm: fifteen years old/fifteen years old
• 4pm: It's four o'clock/four o'clock
• 5pm: seventeen years old/seventeen years old
• 6pm: It's six o'clock/six o'clock
• 7pm: nineteen years old/nineteen years old
• 8pm: It's eight o'clock/eight o'clock
• 9pm: It's nine o'clock/nine o'clock
• 10pm: twenty-two years old/twenty-two years old
• 11pm: It's eleven o'clock/eleven o'clock
• 12 a.m.: twenty-four years old/twenty-four years oldbut a more common statement is It's midnight / midnight (now/midnight)

For example, to say in Italian that it is 8pm, you would say It's 8 o'clock (evening) or It's twenty o'clock now. Here are some examples:

• The concert starts at 9 p.m. (The concert starts at 9pm)
• I have to go home before midnight (I need to be home before midnight)

Speak meeting minutes in Italian

Now, since the time isn't always on the hour, you can get more specific information by:

• Exact minutes: When you want to be precise, especially in formal situations like scheduling, you can add the exact minutes after stating the hour. For example, Class starts at 10:5 (Class starts at 10:50), See you at ten past two! (See you at ten past two!)

• Half o'clock: When it's thirty minutes past the hour, you can say Half or Half Indicates the past half. Both are correct, you can choose whichever sounds more musical. For example: I always get up at half past six (I always get up at half past six).

• Minutes to Hours: Starting from the last 40 minutes, Italians say minutes to the next hour. For example, 9:55 becomes:

• five o'clock to ten o'clock (Literally means ten minus five)
• It's five minutes to ten o'clock (Literally. Five minutes to ten)
• It's nine fifty-five now (Literally means nine fifty-five – more formal, suitable for announcements or scheduling).

• Quarter of an hour: If it were fifteen minutes now, would you say and a quarter. For example: It's a quarter past four, time for a cup of coffee (It's four-fifteen, time for coffee!)

• Quarter hour: When there are fifteen minutes left until the next hour, you use the next hour and say There's still a quarter… or A quarter of the time left… For example, 18:45 becomes It's a quarter to seven now or It's a quarter to seven now. Sometimes you may also hear It's a quarter past six (It's on, it's six and three-quarters now).

• No exact minute: In casual speech, Italians often use go through (past) or allow (almost) instead of specifying the exact number of minutes. For example, 15:12 becomes It's already ten past three (It's already past 3:10) or It's almost a quarter past three (It's almost a quarter past three).

Useful Italian time expressions and time-related vocabulary

Italians have two main ways of expressing the meaning of “o'clock” in English:

• on point (sharp) Emphasize that the time is exactly as stated. For example: We'll set off on time at nine o'clock tomorrow, and those who are late will stay home! (We'll set off tomorrow at nine o'clock sharp; anyone who's late will stay home!)

• Split (sharp) is perfect for casual conversation. For example: I have to go home at 10 o'clock in the morning, otherwise my mother will be angry. (I must go home at ten o'clock sharp; otherwise my mother will be angry)

Sometimes you may want to add some additional elements to provide more temporal context when telling the time and activity you are describing:

Talk about current events:

• Now (Now)
• Ora (Now)
• at this moment (at this moment)
• today (today)
• this afternoon (this afternoon)
• this morning/this morning (this morning)
• this evening/this evening (Tonight)
• tonight/tonight (tonight)

Let’s talk about past events:

• yesterday (yesterday)
• Yesterday morning/afternoon/evening/evening (yesterday morning/afternoon/evening/evening)
• the day before yesterday (the day before yesterday)
• A few days ago (a few days ago)
• not long ago (not long ago)
• two days ago (two days ago)
• a week ago (one week ago)
• two years ago (two years ago)
• last week (last week)
• last month (last month)
• last year (last year)

Talk about future events:

• tomorrow (tomorrow)
• Tomorrow morning/afternoon/evening/evening (tomorrow morning/afternoon/evening/evening)
• the day after tomorrow (the day after tomorrow)
• between/between two days (two days later)
• within a month/within a month (within one month)
• Within two years/within two years (within two years)
• next week (next week)
• next month (next month)
• next year (next year)

There are some more important terms to enrich your knowledge:

• noon (noon)
• noon (noon)
• midnight (midnight)
• half (12:30 or 12:30 noon)
• Ora (time)
• bell (bell)
• late (late)
• Presto (early)
• on time (on time)
• on time (on time)
• be late (going to be late)
• Arrive early (be early)

Valentina Nicastro He is a travel writer who loves his motherland, Italy. After traveling around the world, she realized there was more to explore closer to home and decided to put her passport aside for the time being. When she's not immersed in documenting Italy, you'll find her donning her hat as a communications consultant, weaving words as a content writer and bridging language gaps as a translator.