Phrases & Vocabulary

Time

now
jetzt (yetst)

later
später (SHPET-er)

before
vor (for)

morning
Morgen (MOR-gen)

in the morning
morgens (MOR-genss)

tomorrow morning
morgen früh (MOR-gen FRUU)

afternoon
Nachmittag (NAHKH-mit-tahk)

in the afternoon
nachmittags (NAHKH-mit-tahks)

evening
Abend (AH-bent)

in the evening
abends (AH-bents)

night
Nacht (nahkht)

in the night
nachts (nahkhts)

Clock

In German speaking countries as in many other European countries, it's usual to use a 24 hour clock, ranging from 0.00 to 23.59.

one o'clock AM
ein Uhr (IGHN oor)

two o'clock AM
2 Uhr (TSVIGH oor)

noon
12 Uhr or Mittag (TSVOOLF oor or MIT-tahk)

one o'clock PM
13 Uhr (DRIGH-tsayn oor)

two o'clock PM
14 Uhr (FEER-tsayn oor)

midnight
Mitternacht or 0 Uhr or 24 Uhr (MIT-er-nahkht or NOOL oor or FEER-oont-TSVAHN-tsikh oor)

in _____
Im Jahr _____ (im YAHR _____)

Duration

_____ minute(s)
_____ Minute(n) (mih-NOO-tuh [mih-NOO-ten])

_____ hour(s)
_____ Stunde(n) (SHTOON-duh [SHTOON-den)

_____ day(s)
_____ Tag(e) (TAHK [TAH-guh])

_____ week(s)
_____ Woche(n) (VOKH-uh [VOKH-en])

_____ month(s)
_____ Monat(e) (MOH-naht [moh-NAH-tuh])

_____ year(s)
_____ Jahr(e) (YAHR[-uh])

Days

today
heute (HOY-tuh)

the day before yesterday
vorgestern (for-GESS-tern)

yesterday
gestern (GESS-tern)

tomorrow
morgen (MOR-gen)

the day after tomorrow
übermorgen (uuber-MOR-gen)

this week
diese Woche (DEE-zuh VOH-khuh)

last week
letzte Woche (LETS-tuh VOH-khuh)

the week before last week
vorletzte Woche (for-LETS-tuh VOH-khuh)

next week
nächste Woche (NEX-tuh VOH-khuh)

the week after next week
übernächste Woche (uuber-NEX-tuh VOH-khuh)

Monday
Montag (MON-tahk)

Tuesday
Dienstag (DEENS-tahk)

Wednesday
Mittwoch (MIT-vokh)

Thursday
Donnerstag (DON-ers-tahk)

Friday
Freitag (FRIGH-tahk)

Saturday
Samstag (ZAMS-tahk), in some regions "Sonnabend" (ZON-ah-bent)

Sunday
Sonntag (ZON-tahk)

Note: In Germany, Monday is the start of the week.

Months

January
Januar (YAH-noo-ahr)

February
Februar (FAY-broo-ahr)

March
März (mehrts)

April
April (ah-PRILL)

May
Mai (migh)

June
Juni (YOO-nee)

July
Juli (YOO-lee)

August
August (ow-GOOST)

September
September (zep-TEM-ber)

October
Oktober (ok-TOH-ber)

November
November (noh-VEM-ber)

December
Dezember (day-TSEM-ber)

Writing

In clock time, hours and minutes are separated by a '.' instead of ':', but the latter is also widely used. Another usual way is to write the minutes raised like an exponent.

The date is always written in the order day, month, year, e.g.
The 24th of December 2003 in German is 24.12.2003, not 12-24-2003.