Telling the Time in Greek

Written by Greek Boston in Learn How to Speak Basic Greek Comments Off on Telling the Time in Greek

When it comes to learning another language, there are certain, basic skills that you will need. Telling the time is one of the most important. While in Greece, people may ask you what time it is on the street.

You might also need to ask others what the time is, especially if you have a schedule to keep! Here’s a look at some of the basics for telling the time in Greek.

How to Tell the Time in the Greek Language

Knowing how to say the numbers in Greek isn’t enough. There’s also some vocabulary that you’ll need to know. Here’s a look at some of the most important words and phrases:

• What time is it? – Τι ώρα είναι; – Ti ora einai.
• It is (insert number) o’clock. Είναι (insert number) η ώρα. Einai (number) I ora. 
• It is one o’clock. Είναι μία η ώρα. Einai mia I ora.
• It is two o’clock. Είναι δύο η ώρα. Einai thio I ora.
• It is ten o’clock. Είναι δέκα η ώρα. Einai theka I ora.
• It is eleven o’clock. Είναι έντεκα η ώρα. Einai endeka I ora.
• It is twelve o’clock. Είναι δώδεκα η ώρα. Einai thotheka I ora.
• It is fourteen o’clock. Είναι δεκατέσσερα η ώρα. Einai thekatessera I ora.
• It is twenty o’clock. Είναι είκοσι η ώρα. Einai ikosi I ora.
• It is twenty-three. Είναι είκοσι τρία η ώρα. Einai ikosi tria I ora.
• It is half past (one). Είναι μία και μισή. Einai mia kai misi.
• It is quarter past (four). Είναι τέσσερις και τέταρτο. Einai tesseris kai tetarto.
• It is quarter to (ten). Είναι δέκα παρά τέταρτο. Einai theka para tetarto.
• It’s midnight. είναι μεσάνυχτα. Einai mesanichta
• It’s midday. είναι μεσημέρι. Einai mesimeri.
• In the morning. το πρωί. to proi
• In the afternoon. το απόγευμα. to apoyevma
• In the evening. το βράδυ.to vrathi

Understand That Greece is On Military Time

Like most of Europe, Greece follows military time. This means that there is no notion of AM or PM because 6 PM, for example, is actually 18:00 hours. With that in mind, you will need to know the vocabulary words for the numbers through 23 for the hours and the numbers through 59 for the minutes. For a refresher on how to say the numbers, please take a look at this article.

These are the basic words and phrases you are likely to encounter when telling the time in the Greek language. You don’t need to spend a lot of time memorizing them, but you should become familiar. Read over this list a few times until you feel comfortable so that you can tell the time with ease!

The Learn Greek section on GreekBoston.com was written by Greeks to help people understand the conversational basics of the Greek language. This article is not a substitute for a professional Greek learning program, but a helpful resource for people wanting to learn simple communication in Greek.

Categorized in: Learn How to Speak Basic Greek

This post was written by Greek Boston