Updated: Jun 15, 2020
Imagine you walk in the streets of Tel-Aviv, got to know what time it is in order to make it to the Falafel stand you heard so much about, you stop random people asking "What time is it? (Ma hasha'a? ?מָה השָׁעַה) and they all answer to you in Hebrew!!
No worries, after reading this blog post, you will be able to understand the answers and make it to eat Falafel just on time! :)
Before We Start
First, you need to know how to count to 12 in Hebrew:
1 - (achat) אַחַת
2 - (shtayim) שְׁתַּיִם
3 - (shalosh) שָׁלֹשׁ
4 - (arba) אַרְבַּע
5 - (chamesh) חָמֵשׁ
6 - (shesh) שֵׁשׁ
7 - (sheva') שֶׁבַע
8 - (shmone) שְׁמוֹנֶה
9 - (tesha') תֵּשַׁע
10 - ('eser) עֶשֶׂר
11 - (achat-'esre) אֲחַת-עֶשְׂרֵה
12 - (shteyim-'esre) שְׁתֵּים-עֶשְׂרֵה
Terminology:
Hour - Sha'a שָׁעַה
Hours - Sha'ot שָׁעוֹת
Minute - Daka דָקַה
Minutes - Dakot דָקוֹת
Now, let's watch some watches.
The Techniques
The Time - X:05
X va chamisha
וחֲמִשָּׁה X
The Time - X:10
X va asara
ועֲשָׂרָה X
The Time - X:15
X va reva
ורֵבַע X
(Reva רֵבַע, means quarter)
The Time - X:20
X ve esrim
ועֶשְׂרִים X
The Time - X:25
X esrim ve chamisha
עֶשְׂרִים וחֲמִשָּׁה X
The Time - X:30
X va chezi
וַחֵצִי X
(chezi חֵצִי, means half)
From this point on, there are 2 ways to read the time, both are correct and both being used in Israel equally:
The Time - X:35
esrim ve chamisha le (X+1)
(X+1)עֶשְׂרִים וחֲמִשָּׁה ל
OR
X shloshim ve chamisha
שׁלוֹשִׁים וחֲמִשָּׁה X
The Time - X:40
חֵצִיesrim le (X+1)
(X+1)עֶשְׂרִים ל
OR
X arba'im
אָרְבַּעִים X
The Time - X:45
reva le (X+1)
(X+1)רֵבַע ל
OR
X arba'im ve chamisha
אָרְבַּעִים וחֲמִשָּׁה X
The Time - X:50
asara le (X+1)
(X+1)עֲשָׂרָה ל
OR
X chamishim
חֲמִשִּׁים X
The Time - X:55
chamisha le (X+1)
(X+1)חֲמִשָּׁה ל
OR
X chamishim ve chamisha
חֲמִשִּׁים וחֲמִשָּׁה X
The Time - X:00
Just say the number in Hebrew :)
and that's it, now to some examples
Examples
6:30
Shesh va chezi
שֵׁשׁ וַחֵצִי
4:50
asara le chamesh
עֲשָׂרָה לחָמֵשׁ
OR
arba chamishim
אַרְבַּע חֲמִשִּׁים
9:20
tesha ve esrim
תֵּשַׁע ועֶשְׂרִים
Examples Out of Scenarios
By now you are probably wondering what happens if the long hand of the clock isn't exactly on a number?
Just like English, we will say:
X and Y minutes
X ve Y dakot (דָקוֹת)
For example:
3:08
shalosh ve shmone dakot
שָׁלֹשׁ ושְׁמוֹנֶה דָקוֹת
7:47
sheva ve arba'im ve sheva dakot
שֶׁבַע ואָרְבַּעִים ושֶׁבַע דָקוֹת
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