The easy way to learn Turkish
Telling The Time in Turkish
Useful Verbs
gelmek - to come
gitmek - to go
yemek - to eat
sevmek - to love
yapmak - to do
olmak - to be
kalmak - to stay
istemek - to want
learn-turkish@hotmail.com
~ Basic Turkish ~
Important Info
Alphabet/
Pronounciation
Basic Information
~ Other ~
Test Your Turkish!
Learning Tips
* Forum *
Guestbook
~ Useful Information ~
Useful Words 1
Useful Words 2
(inc. verbs)
Useful Phrases
Numbers
Days, Weeks and Months
Turkish Slang
Childrens Stories in Turkish and English
Home Page
~ Grammar ~
Essentials
Vowel Harmony 1
Vowel Harmony 2
Consonant Changes
Suffixes
Plurals
Personal Pronouns
~ Grammar ~
Tenses
'To Be' - Positive
'To Be' - Negative
Present Continuous
Tense
Past Continuous Tense
Simple Present - Positive
Simple Present - Negative
Simple Past Tense
Future Tense
~ Grammar ~
Other
Possession
Express Need
'There is/There isn't..'
'I can/I can't...'
'Let...'
'If...'
'Apparently...'
Telling The Time
~ Other ~
About Me
E-Mail Me
Links

To ask 'what is the time?' in Turkish, we must say 'saat kaç?'.

It is 2 o'clock - saat iki
It is 5 o'clock - saat beş
It is 11 o'clock - saat on bir

Past the hour -

To tell the time past the hour, the hour comes first followed by either -(y)i/ı/u/ü depending on vowel harmony. (The -(y) is only added if the last letter is a vowel). Then add the minutes, then 'geçiyor'.

To say 'quarter past...', simply put 'çeyrek' (quarter) where the minutes would go.

The formula for telling the time 'past the hour' therefore is;

saat + hour + -(y)i + minute + geçiyor

examples

saat + hour + -(y)i + minute + geçiyor

saat beşi on geçiyor (10 past 5)
saat üçü yirmi beş geçiyor (25 past 3)
saat on ikiyi çeyrek geçiyor (quarter past 12)



To the hour

To tell the time to the hour, the hour comes first followed by either '-(y)e/a' depending on vowel harmony. (The -(y) is only added if the last letter is a vowel again). Then add the minutes, then 'var'.

Once again, to say 'quarter to', put 'çeyrek' (quarter) where the minutes would go.

The formula for telling to time 'to the hour' therefore is;

saat + -(y)e/a + minute + var

examples
saat + hour + -e/a + minute + var
saat yediye yirmi var (20 to 7)
saat on bire beş var (5 to 11)
saat dokuza çeyrek var (quarter to 9)


Half past

To say 'half past....' add 'buçuk' after the hour.

examples
half past 4 - dört buçuk
half past 10 - on buçuk
half past 12 - yarım (simply meaning 'half', this is used for 'half past 12')



To say 'at' a certain time such as 'at half 8', the same formulas are used but with a different ending.

The formula for 'at...past...' is;

hour + -(y)i + minute +geçe

examples
altıyı on geçe = at 10 past 6

ikiyi çeyrek geçe = at quarter past 2

The formula for 'at....to...' is;

hour +-(y)a/e +minute + kala

examples
dokuza beş kala = at 5 to 9

sekize çeyrek kala = at quarter to 8

at 8 o'clock = sekizde
at half 4 = dört buçukta

Click here to test yourself on this section.