How to Say the Time and Date in Italian
Italian Vocabulary for Time, Days, Months and Seasons
Sep 17, 2009
Learning the Italian vocabulary of time is a great way for beginners to increase their knowledge of the language. This vocabulary is used constantly and is sure to come in handy in Italian reading and conversation at home, school or when traveling in Italy.
How to Tell Time in Italian
Telling time in Italian is as simple as saying the numbers with "and" between the hours and minutes. All times are plural except for noon, midnight and one o'clock. For example, "it is10:50" would be said sono le dieci e cinquanta, but "it is 1:00" would be said è l'una. In Italy, as in many other places around the world, a 24 hour clock is used, meaning 6:00 pm, for example, is known as 18:00.
As in English, there are a few shortened ways to say certain times.
- noon – mezzogiorno
- midnight – mezzanotte
- xx:15 – xx e un quarto
- xx:30 – xx e mezzo
- xx:45 – xx + 1 meno un quarto (3:45 would be quattro meno un quarto)
Of course, in many situations knowing the precise time is not necessary and simply saying the time of day will suffice.
- morning – la mattina
- afternoon – il pomeriggio
- evening – la sera
- night – la notte
Greeting people differs as the day progresses also.
- Good morning! – Buon giorno!
- Good afternoon! – Buon giorno! or Buon pomeriggio!
- Good evening! – Buona sera!
- Good night! – Buona notte!
I Sette Giorni della Settimana – The Seven Days of the Week
Learning the days of the week is an important step in learning a foreign language. It is one of the first things that many learn because it can be learned in its entirety rather quickly. After all, there are only seven of them. Note that weekdays are accented on the final letter and Saturday and Sunday do not follow the regular pronunciation rule for syllable stress.
- Monday – lunedì
- Tuesday – martedì
- Wednesday – mercoledì
- Thursday – giovedì
- Friday – venerdì
- Saturday – sabato (SA-ba-to)
- Sunday – domenica (do-ME-ni-ca)
The non-specific days are:
- yesterday – ieri
- today – oggi
- tomorrow – domani
I Dodici Mesi dell'Anno – The Twelve Months of the Year
The months in Italian may look similar to those in English, but be sure to follow the Italian pronunciation rules. When saying a date, use the cardinal numbers except in the case of the first of every month, which uses the ordinal, il primo.
- January – gennaio
- February – febbraio
- March – marzo
- April – aprile
- May – maggio
- June – giugno
- July – luglio
- August – agosto
- September – settembre
- October – ottobre
- November – novembre
- December – dicembre
Le Quattro Stagioni dell'Anno – The Four Seasons of the Year
These are the names of the four seasons in Italian:
- Spring – la primavera
- Summer – l'estate
- Fall – l'autunno
- Winter – l'inverno
Using the Vocabulary of Time
With this vocabulary it is now possible to say the exact time, date and season at any moment. Try practicing by saying the current time and today's date in Italian using this as an example:
Adesso sono le dieci e ventisei. Oggi è giovedì il diciassette settembre duemilanove. È l'estate.
It is now 10:26. Today is Thursday, September 17, 2009. It is Summer.
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