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Telling Time in ItalianTelling Time in Italian

Telling Time

In Italian there are two ways of asking the time:

Che ora è?

or

Che ore sono?

They both have the same meaning; although it is more common to use the second form.

Telling Time

When answering the question, there are two forms used: è and sono. These are not interchangeable.

One uses “è” is used with the following times:

• Noon – È mezzogiorno.• Midnight – È mezzanotte.• One o’clock – È l’una.**

**É is used with 1:00 only until 1:30.

Telling Time

When expressing time in Italian, the definite article “le” is used in front of the hour.

It is used because the Italian word for hour, l’ora, is feminine and when expressing plural hours, it becomes le ore.

Telling Time

When expressing time that is not “on the dot” of an hour, we use the word “e” between the hour and minutes:

Sono le due e dieci. 2:10

Sono le sette e venti. 7:20

Sono le undici e tredici. 11:13

Telling Time

Halves and Quarters

In English, there are two ways to express half past an hour. We can say for example that it is three thirty or we can say it is half past three.

In Italian, it is the same. One may say:

Sono le tre e trenta.

or

Sono le tre e mezzo.

Telling Time

When expressing either quarter past or quarter of an hour, it can be expressed just as in English as well.

4:15Sono le quattro e quindici.

Sono le quattro e un quarto.

5: 45Sono le cinque e quarantacinque.

Sono le cinque e tre quarti.

Telling Time

Time of Day:

In Europe AM and PM are used in general telling of time.

However, when reading time tables for airplanes, trains, museums, and other schedules, they are still printed using the 24 hour clock.

Telling Time

In conversation, however, time of day is expressed as seen below:

A.M.

di (della) mattina – in the morning

P.M.

di (del) pomeriggio – in the afternoon

di (della) sera – in the evening

di (della) notte – at night