6/2/2023 0 Comments 30 tell time upGermans tell the time in much the same way as Norwegians. If you’re German and reading this, none of what I said came as a surprise. It's enough to make you want to wait an extra five minutes before telling the time, since at 15:45 the madness finally ends with a rather normal “kvart på fire” (quarter to four). It’s 15:40? “Ti over halv fire” (ten over half four). It's the same situation at 15:25: “fem på halv fire” (five to half four). In other words, when telling the time, Norwegians start referring to the next hour already at twenty minutes past the previous hour. If you think “half four” for 15:30 is weird, wait until you hear this: 15:20 is “ti på halv fire” (ten to half four). Colloquially, people will say “halv fire på ettermiddagen” (half four on afternoon). People will then say “femten tretti” (fifteen thirty). Perhaps it has to do with the fact that the 24-hour clock, past 12, will be used in more formal speech. Why, you ask? If you ever find out, you really have to tell me. You can say “halv elleve” for 10:30 and “halv tolv” for 11:30, but not “halv tretten” for 12:30. So 15:30 is “halv fire” (half four), 08:30 is “half ni” (half nine) and 21:30 is “halv ti” (half ten).Īs if that was not confusing enough, the “halv” rule doesn’t apply to all times greater than 12. If you’re American, that’s puzzling enough, but if you’re British, it’s extremely counterintuitive (since “half four” means “half past four” in British English). But what’s half past three? Well… it’s “halv fire” (half four). So by now you know 3pm can be either “klokka 15” or “klokka 3” when there’s enough context. This is where things start getting weird. So far so good, right? Oslo city hall Half past… If it’s 07:45, you can say that it’s “kvart på åtte” (quarter to eight). If the time is 07:15, you can say “kvart over sju” (quarter over seven). Quarter past, quarter to…įifteen minutes in Norwegian is “femten minutter”, but it’s also very common to say “et kvarter” (a quarter). So, 7-23 (8-22) means the store is open from 7am to 11pm on weekdays, and 8am to 10pm on Saturdays. They conveniently write their opening hours in big letters on the side of the building. Norwegian grocery stores are an example of this consistent use of the 24-hour clock in written form. When writing down the time in Norwegian though, always use the 24-hour clock – like this: “kl.15” for 3pm. Norwegian shops list opening hours using the 24-hour clock That being said, it’s quite common to say “klokka tre” (three o’clock) when meaning 3 in the afternoon, if the context makes it clear that that’s what you mean. This doesn’t read as “fifteen hundred hours” like in the American military, but as “femten null null” (fifteen zero zero).Īlternatively, you can say “klokka femten” (fifteen o’clock). Therefore, the English 3pm becomes 1500 in Norwegian. Like most European countries, Norway uses the 24-hour clock. If the person asking the question is Norwegian though, it’s likely that they’re just translating directly from the Norwegian “Hvor mye er klokka?” (How much is the clock?), which really means “What time is it?”. Or for telling them it’s not for sale, thank you. If someone asked you how much “the clock” is, in English, you’d be forgiven to give them an amount for what you think the nearest clock is worth. When you see English in parentheses, it’s a literal word-for-word translation, to give you an idea of how odd telling time works in Norwegian. But worry not! We’ve prepared this little summary for you. Telling the time is easy right? Well if you’re a native English speaker learning Norwegian, not so much. Being able to ask for the time or respond to the question is an important early step in learning Norwegian.
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