German Days, Months, Dates and Telling Time, Including the 'Halb Drei' Trap

The days and months in German, how to say dates and times, and why 'halb drei' means 2:30, not 3:30.

Days, dates and times come up constantly, and German has one famous trap: halb drei means half past two, not half past three.

Days of the week

Montag, Dienstag, Mittwoch, Donnerstag, Freitag, Samstag (in northern and eastern Germany also Sonnabend), Sonntag

All are masculine (der Montag) and capitalised. To say "on Monday", use am: am Montag. To say "on Mondays" (every Monday), add -s: montags.

Parts of the day

der Morgen / morgens — morning
der Vormittag / vormittags — late morning
der Mittag / mittags — midday
der Nachmittag / nachmittags — afternoon
der Abend / abends — evening
die Nacht / nachts — night

Months

Januar (in Austria often Jänner), Februar, März, April, Mai, Juni, Juli, August, September, Oktober, November, Dezember. Months are masculine, capitalised, and used with im: im Oktober.

Dates

Dates use ordinal numbers with a full stop, and the pattern is day, month, year:

Heute ist der 5. Oktober 2026. — Today is 5 October 2026. (der fünfte Oktober)
Am 14. Juli. — On 14 July.
Ich habe am 3. März Geburtstag. — My birthday is on 3 March.
Was ist heute für ein Datum? — What's today's date?
Der Wievielte ist heute? — What's the date today?

Written short dates run day.month.year: 05.10.2026, which is 5 October, not May 10.

Telling the time

Wie spät ist es? or Wie viel Uhr ist es? — What time is it?
Es ist drei Uhr. — It's three o'clock.
Um drei Uhr. — At three o'clock.

Quarter and half hours

Viertel nach drei — quarter past three (3:15)
Halb vier — literally "half four", which means 3:30
Viertel vor vier — quarter to four (3:45)
Zehn nach drei — ten past three
Zwanzig vor vier — twenty to four
Fünf vor halb vier — 3:25 (five before half-four)
Fünf nach halb vier — 3:35

The trap: halb refers to the next hour. Halb drei is half of the way towards three, that is, 2:30. English speakers routinely get this wrong.

In some regions, Viertel vier means 3:15 and dreiviertel vier means 3:45.

24-hour clock

Written times, timetables and official contexts use the 24-hour clock: 15.30 Uhr (fünfzehn Uhr dreißig). In official use, you say the numbers straightforwardly.

Time expressions

heute — today
morgen — tomorrow
gestern — yesterday
übermorgen — the day after tomorrow
vorgestern — the day before yesterday
diese Woche — this week
nächste Woche — next week
letzte Woche — last week
jeden Tag — every day
pünktlich — on time
zu früh / zu spät — too early / too late

Punctuality

Punctuality (Pünktlichkeit) is widely valued in German-speaking countries. Arriving on time for appointments, meetings and trains is important, and being late without notice may be seen as impolite.

Seasons

der Frühling (spring), der Sommer, der Herbst (autumn), der Winter: im Frühling, im Sommer.

Useful phrases

Wann? — When?
Um wie viel Uhr? — At what time?
Bis wann? — Until when?
Ab wann? — From when?
Von Montag bis Freitag — from Monday to Friday
Wir treffen uns um halb acht. — We'll meet at 7:30.

Practice

Say the time every hour for a day in German, always using halb carefully. Then write your week's plans in German.

Look up days, months and times with English German Dictionary →