“What time is it?” in 65 languages

In Spanish you ask ¿Qué hora es?, in French Quelle heure est-il ?, in German Wie spät ist es?, in Japanese 今何時ですか？ (ima nan-ji desu ka?), in Mandarin 现在几点？ (xiànzài jǐ diǎn?) and in Arabic كم الساعة؟ (kam as-sāʿa?). Below are 65 languages, each with a rough pronunciation, what the words literally mean, and the time right now written the way that language writes it.

The question is rarely “what time”. Germans and Dutch ask how late it is, Swedes ask what the clock is, Hindi and Yoruba speakers ask how many times the bell or gong has struck, and Mandarin asks how many points. For the single word “time”, see how to say “time” in 86 languages.

Find a language

Language	How to ask	Literally	The time now, written in it
Europe & the Americas
English	What time is it?	— Also “Do you have the time?” Answer: “It’s three o’clock.”
Spanish	¿Qué hora es? KEH OH-rah ess	“What hour is it?” In much of Latin America also ¿Qué horas son? (“What hours are they?”). Answer: Son las tres.
Portuguese	Que horas são? kee OH-rahs sow	“What hours are they?” Answer: São três horas.
French	Quelle heure est-il ? kel ur eh-TEEL	“What hour is it?” French puts a space before the question mark. Answer: Il est trois heures.
German	Wie spät ist es? vee shpayt ist ess	“How late is it?” Also Wie viel Uhr ist es? (“How much clock is it?”). Answer: Es ist drei Uhr.
Italian	Che ore sono? keh OH-reh SOH-noh	“What hours are they?” Che ora è? is also used. Answer: Sono le tre.
Dutch	Hoe laat is het? hoo laht is het	“How late is it?”
Swedish	Vad är klockan? vahd air KLOCK-an	“What is the clock?”
Norwegian	Hva er klokka? vah ehr KLOCK-ah	“What is the clock?” Also Hva er klokken?
Danish	Hvad er klokken? vah ehr KLOH-ken	“What is the clock?”
Icelandic	Hvað er klukkan? kvath ehr KLOOK-an	“What is the clock?”
Finnish	Paljonko kello on? PAL-yon-ko KEL-lo on	“How much is the clock?” Also Mitä kello on? (“What is the clock?”).
Estonian	Mis kell on? miss kell on	“What clock is it?”
Latvian	Cik ir pulkstenis? tsik ir POOLK-steh-nis	“How much is the clock?”
Lithuanian	Kiek dabar valandų? kyek dah-BAR vah-lahn-DOO	“How many hours now?”
Polish	Która jest godzina? KTOO-rah yest go-JEE-nah	“Which hour is it?” Often just Która godzina?
Czech	Kolik je hodin? KO-lik yeh HO-din	“How many hours is it?”
Slovak	Koľko je hodín? KOL-ko yeh HO-deen	“How many hours is it?”
Slovenian	Koliko je ura? KO-lee-ko yeh OO-rah	“How much is the hour?”
Croatian	Koliko je sati? KO-lee-ko yeh SAH-tee	“How many hours is it?” Bosnian and Montenegrin say the same.
Serbian	Колико је сати? KO-lee-ko yeh SAH-tee	“How many hours is it?” Written in Cyrillic or Latin: Koliko je sati?
Bulgarian	Колко е часът? KOL-ko eh cha-SUHT	“How much is the hour?”
Russian	Который час? ka-TO-riy chas	“Which hour?” Everyday speech also uses Сколько времени? (SKOL-ko VRYE-me-nee, “How much time?”). Answer: Три часа.
Ukrainian	Котра година? KO-trah ho-DY-nah	“Which hour?”
Romanian	Cât e ceasul? kuht eh CHA-sool	“How much is the clock?” Also Cât este ora?
Hungarian	Hány óra van? hahny OH-rah von	“How many hours are there?”
Greek	Τι ώρα είναι; tee OH-rah EE-neh	“What hour is it?” Greek uses ; as its question mark.
Albanian	Sa është ora? sah UHSH-tuh OH-rah	“How much is the hour?”
Catalan	Quina hora és? KEE-nah OH-rah ess	“What hour is it?”
Basque	Zer ordu da? sehr OR-doo dah	“What hour is it?”
Irish	Cén t-am é? kayn tahm ay	“What time is it?”
Welsh	Faint o’r gloch yw hi? vaint or glokh you hee	“How much of the clock is it?” Cloch means “bell”, the same root as English clock.
Middle East & Central Asia
Turkish	Saat kaç? sah-AHT kahch	“Clock how many?”
Arabic	كم الساعة؟ kam as-SAA-ʿa	“How much is the hour?” Sāʿa means both “hour” and “clock”. Answer: الساعة الثالثة (as-sāʿa ath-thālitha).
Hebrew	מה השעה? mah ha-sha-AH	“What is the hour?”
Persian (Farsi)	ساعت چنده؟ saa-AT chan-DEH	“The clock is how much?” Everyday spoken form; the written form is ساعت چند است؟
Georgian	რომელი საათია? ro-MEH-lee saa-TEE-ah	“Which hour is it?”
Armenian	Ժամը քանի՞սն է: ZHAH-muh kah-NEESN eh	“The hour is how many?” Armenian marks the question on the stressed word, not at the end.
Kazakh	Сағат неше? sah-GHAT neh-SHEH	“Clock how many?”
Uzbek	Soat necha? so-AHT neh-CHAH	“Clock how many?”
South Asia
Hindi	कितने बजे हैं? kit-NAY BAH-jay hain	“How many have struck?” Baje means “struck”, from the gong that once rang the hours. Answer: तीन बजे हैं (teen baje hain).
Urdu	کتنے بجے ہیں؟ kit-NAY BAH-jay hain	“How many have struck?” Spoken Urdu and Hindi are almost identical here; only the script differs.
Bengali	কটা বাজে? KO-ta BA-jay	“How many are striking?”
Punjabi	ਕਿੰਨੇ ਵਜੇ ਹਨ? KIN-nay VA-jay han	“How many have struck?”
Marathi	किती वाजले? KI-tee VAAJ-lay	“How many have struck?”
Nepali	कति बज्यो? KUH-tee BUJ-yo	“How many has it struck?”
Tamil	மணி என்ன? MUH-nee EN-nuh	“What is the hour?” Maṇi means “bell” as well as “hour”.
East & Southeast Asia
Mandarin Chinese	现在几点？ shyen-dzai jee dyen	“Now how many points?” Diǎn (点) is a “point” or “dot” on the clock face. Answer: 三点 (sān diǎn).
Cantonese	而家幾點？ yee-gah gay dim	“Now how many points?” Written in traditional characters in Hong Kong.
Japanese	今何時ですか？ ee-mah NAHN-jee dess-kah	“Now, what hour is it?” Answer: 3時です (san-ji desu).
Korean	지금 몇 시예요? jee-geum myeot shee-yeh-yo	“Now how many hours?” Korean counts hours with native numbers (세 시, “three o’clock”) but minutes with Chinese-derived ones.
Vietnamese	Mấy giờ rồi? may yuh roy	“How many hours already?”
Thai	กี่โมงแล้ว kee mong laeo	“How many o’clock already?” Spoken Thai divides the day into six-hour blocks with different words for the hour in each.
Indonesian	Jam berapa sekarang? jahm beh-RAH-pah seh-KAH-rahng	“Hour how many now?” Jam means both “hour” and “clock”.
Malay	Pukul berapa sekarang? POO-kool beh-RAH-pah seh-KAH-rahng	“Strike how many now?”
Filipino (Tagalog)	Anong oras na? ah-NONG OH-rahs nah	“What hour already?” Times are usually given with Spanish numbers: alas tres (three o’clock).
Hawaiian	He aha ka hola? heh AH-hah kah HO-lah	“What is the hour?”
Africa
Afrikaans	Hoe laat is dit? hoo laht is dit	“How late is it?”
Swahili	Ni saa ngapi? nee SAH ng-AH-pee	“It is how many hours?” Swahili time starts counting at sunrise: saa moja (“hour one”) is 7 AM. See below.
Amharic	ስንት ሰዓት ነው? sint seh-AHT noh	“How many hours is it?” Ethiopian clocks also count from dawn, so 7 AM is “hour one”.
Yoruba	Aago mélòó ló lù? AH-go meh-LOH loh loo	“The bell struck how many?” Aago is the gong or bell that once marked time.
Hausa	Ƙarfe nawa ne? KAR-feh NAH-wah neh	“The iron is how many?” From the iron gong struck to tell the hour.
Zulu	Isikhathi sithini? ee-see-KAH-tee see-TEE-nee	“What does the time say?”
Constructed and classical
Esperanto	Kioma horo estas? kee-OH-mah HO-ro ES-tahs	“Which-numbered hour is it?”
Latin	Quota hora est? KWO-tah HO-rah est	“Which-numbered hour is it?” Roman hours were twelfths of the daylight, so they changed length with the seasons.	—

Sounds-like guides are rough English approximations; stressed syllables are in capitals. The last column uses your browser’s built-in language data, so it shows how each language actually writes a time, including its own digits, 12- or 24-hour clock and words for morning and afternoon.

Clocks that start at sunrise

In Swahili, the first hour of the day is the first hour of daylight. Saa moja, “hour one”, is 7 AM, and saa sita, “hour six”, is noon. To convert, add or subtract six hours: a Swahili speaker who says saa mbili (“hour two”) means 8 o’clock. Ethiopia counts the same way in Amharic, which is why travelers are told to check whether a time is “Ethiopian time” or “European time”. Both systems make sense near the equator, where the sun rises at about 6 every day of the year.

Half past, or half to?

In German, halb vier, “half four”, means 3:30: half of the way to four. Dutch (half vier), Hungarian (fél négy), Polish, Czech and the Scandinavian languages count the same way. British English “half four” means the opposite, 4:30, a classic source of missed meetings. German speakers in the south and east also say viertel vier (“quarter four”) for 3:15 and dreiviertel vier for 3:45.

How to answer

Language	“It’s three o’clock”
Spanish	Son las tres. (One o’clock is singular: Es la una.)
French	Il est trois heures.
German	Es ist drei Uhr.
Italian	Sono le tre.
Portuguese	São três horas.
Russian	Три часа. (tri chasa)
Arabic	الساعة الثالثة (as-sāʿa ath-thālitha)
Hindi	तीन बजे हैं (teen baje hain)
Mandarin	三点 (sān diǎn)
Japanese	3時です (san-ji desu)
Swahili	Ni saa tisa. (“It is hour nine”: 3 PM, counted from 6 AM)

Sign languages

In American Sign Language you ask the time by tapping the back of your wrist, where a watch would sit, with a questioning expression. British Sign Language uses a similar wrist tap. Signs differ between sign languages just as words differ between spoken ones, so ask a local signer for the sign used where you are.

Add your language

Every language belongs here, including regional, Indigenous, heritage and endangered ones and the way your own community says it. If your language is missing, or you would say it differently, send it to us (choose “Report a mistake” or “Suggestion”). Tell us what you call your language, the phrase in your own script, how it sounds, and where it is spoken. We will credit you if you would like, and we only publish what you are happy to share.

Questions people ask

How do you say “What time is it?” in Spanish?

¿Qué hora es? In much of Latin America you will also hear ¿Qué horas son? Answer with Son las tres (“It’s three”), or Es la una for one o’clock.

How do you ask the time in French?

Quelle heure est-il ? (“What hour is it?”). Informally: Il est quelle heure ? Answer: Il est trois heures.

How do you ask the time in German?

Wie spät ist es? (“How late is it?”) or Wie viel Uhr ist es? Answer: Es ist drei Uhr. Remember that halb vier means 3:30, not 4:30.

How do you ask the time in Japanese?

今何時ですか？ (ima nan-ji desu ka?), “Now, what hour is it?” Answer: 3時です (san-ji desu).

Why does Swahili time start at 7 AM?

Swahili counts hours from sunrise, which near the equator is about 6 AM all year. The first hour of daylight, ending at 7, is saa moja, “hour one”.

Last updated October 21, 2026. Phrases checked against standard phrasebooks and dictionaries. Spotted a better way to say it? Tell us.