Telling the Time

Lesson objective

In this lesson, you will learn how to ask what time it is and give the time in Darija.

Basic time structure

To express time, use: hadi + the number with the definite article. The definite article changes according to the first sound of the number.

Hours

English	Darija
One	l-wнda
Two	j-juj
Three	t-tlata
Four	r-rb3a
Five	l-xmsa
Six	s-stta
Seven	s-sb3a
Eight	t-tmnya
Nine	t-ts3ud
Ten	l-3šra
Eleven	l-нḍaš
Twelve	ṭ-ṭnaš

Useful time words

English	Darija
Before / to	ql
And / past	u
Exactly	nišan
Quarter	rb3
Twenty minutes	tulut
Half	nṣ
Quarter to	lla rob
Five minutes	qṣm
Ten minutes	qṣmayn

Asking the time

What time is it? — šнal hadi f s-sa3a?

Giving the time

English	Darija
It is exactly one o’clock	hadi l-wнda nišan.
It is five minutes past two	hadi j-juj u qṣm.
It is ten minutes past three	hadi t-tlata u qṣmayn.
It is a quarter past four	hadi r-rb3a u rb3.
It is twenty minutes past five	hadi l-xmsa u tulut.
It is twenty-five minutes past six	hadi s-stta u xmsa u 3šrin.
It is seven thirty	hadi s-sb3a u nṣ.
It is eight thirty-five	hadi t-tmnya u xmsa u tlatin.
It is twenty minutes to nine	hadi t-ts3ud ql tulut.
It is a quarter to ten	hadi l-3šra lla rob.
It is ten minutes to eleven	hadi l-нḍaš ql qṣmayn.
It is five minutes to twelve	hadi ṭ-ṭnaš ql qṣm.

Morning and evening

Time	Darija
6:30 a.m.	s-stta u nṣ d ṣ-ṣbaн
5:15 p.m.	l-xmsa u rb3 d l-3šiya

Time exercise

Match each time with the correct Darija expression.

Times: 10:30, 12:00, 1:05, 2:20, 11:10, 9:40

Expressions: l-wнda u qṣm, l-нḍaš u qṣmayn, ṭ-ṭnaš nišan, l-3šra ql tulut, l-3šra u nṣ, j-juj u tulut