When making plans, appointments, and travel arrangements in Arabic speaking countries, you need to be able to state days and tell the time in Arabic. We’ve already posted an article about days in Arabic, so let’s cover the time words as well.
First, however, let’s get familiar with some vocabulary on the subject of time.
Here are our examples:
| English | Transliteration | Arabic |
|---|---|---|
| Clock in Arabic | Saa’at haa’it | ساعة حائط |
| Time in Arabic | Waqt | وقت |
| Minute in Arabic | Daqeeqah | دقيقة |
| Nighttime in Arabic | Waqt illayl | وقت الليل |
| Daytime in Arabic | Annahaar | النهار |
| Morning in Arabic | Sabaah | صباح |
| Noon in Arabic | Waqt adhaheera | وقت الظهيرة |
| Afternoon in Arabic | Ba’d adhuhur | بعد الظهر |
| Sunset in Arabic | Al maghrib | المغرب |
| Sunrise in Arabic | Shurooq a’shams | شروق الشمس |
| Day in Arabic | Yaum | يوم |
| Night in Arabic | Layl | ليل |
| Evening in Arabic | Masaa’ | مساء |
| Half in Arabic | Nisf | نصف |
| Quarter in Arabic | Ruba’ | ربع |
Also, depending on which Arab country you’re in or planning to visit, you may see either the 12-hour clock being used or the 24-hour clock, or sometimes both. Anyway, what you should know is that:
AM in Arabic is translated as sabaahan / صباحا
PM in Arabic is translated as masaa’n / مساءً
If you would like to ask someone What time is it in Arabic, you should either say:
| kam assaa’ah? | كم الساعة | What time is it? |
| kam assaa’ah al’aan? | كم الساعة الآن | What time is it now? |
We recommend the second version for the following reason: the word kam (كم) in Arabic is often used in interrogative phrases to ask about the price of something. In this case, kami as-sa’ah? might easily be understood as if you were asking about the price of the watch itself (“How much is the watch?”). The additional word al’aan ( الآن), which means “now” in English, makes it clear to the person you are referring to the current time and not the price of his or her watch.
Telling the time in Arabic is very easy as Arabs use ordinal numbers with hours, except one o’clock, as follows:
| English | Transliteration | Arabic |
|---|---|---|
| One o’clock in Arabic |
assaa’ah alwaahidah | الساعة الواحدة |
| Two o’clock in Arabic |
assaa’ah athaaniyah | الساعة الثانية |
| Three o’clock in Arabic |
assaas’ah athaalithah | الساعة الثالثة |
| Four o’clock in Arabic |
assaa’ah arraabi’ah | الساعة الرابعة |
| Five o’clock in Arabic |
assaa’ah alkhaamisah | الساعة الخامسة |
| Six o’clock in Arabic |
assaa’ah assaadisah | الساعة السادسة |
| Seven o’clock in Arabic |
assaa’ah assaabi’ah | الساعة السابعة |
| Eight o’clock in Arabic |
assaa’ah athaaminah | الساعة الثامنة |
| Nine o’clock in Arabic |
assaa’ah attaasi’ah | الساعة التاسعة |
| Ten o’clock in Arabic |
assaa’ah al’aashirah | الساعة العاشرة |
| Eleven o’clock in Arabic |
assaa’ah alhaadiyah ‘ashra | الساعة الحادية عشرة |
| Twelve o’clock in Arabic |
assaa’ah athaaniyah ‘ashra | الساعة الثانية عشرة |
To say “past” in Arabic, natives use و /wa/ “and” which comes after the hour, so “half past two” in Arabic would literally be “two o’clock and a half” / الساعة الثانية والنصف
| Past | Transliteration | و / wa |
|---|---|---|
| Five past in Arabic | wa khamsa daqaa’iq | وخمس دقائق |
| Ten past in Arabic | wa ‘ashr daqaa’iq | وعشر دقائق |
| Quarter past in Arabic | wa arrub’ | والربع |
| Twenty past in Arabic | wa athulth | والثلث |
| Half past in Arabic | wa annisf | والنصف |
To say “to”, Arabs use إلا / illa which comes after the hour, so “quarter to three” in Arabic would literally be “three o’clock less a quarter” / الساعة الثالثة إلا الربع
| To | Transliteration | إلا / illa |
|---|---|---|
| Five to in Arabic | illa khams daqaa’iq | إلا خمس دقائق |
| Ten to in Arabic | illa ‘ashr daqaa’iq | إلا عشر دقائق |
| Quarter to in Arabic | illa arrub’ | إلا الربع |
| Twenty to in Arabic | illa athulth | إلا الثلث |
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