Learning how to tell time is one of the first and most useful things you will do when learning Dutch.

Whether you need to catch a train in Amsterdam, make a dinner reservation in Utrecht, or just want to know when your favorite shop opens, you need to master de tijd (the time).

For English speakers, Dutch time can be a little tricky.

While the full hour is easy, the Dutch have a very specific (and slightly confusing) way of talking about half hours and the minutes surrounding them.

If you translate directly from English, you might show up an hour late!

In this guide, I’ll break down exactly how to ask for the time, how to say the numbers, and the special logic behind the Dutch “half hour.”

Asking “what time is it?”

Before you can tell the time, you need to know how to ask for it.

The most common way to ask “What time is it?” in Dutch is literally “How late is it?”

If you are stopping a stranger on the street, you would usually be a bit more polite:

The full hour

Let’s start with the easiest part.

To say it is a full hour, you use the word uur (hour). The structure is very simple:

Het is [number] uur.

You only use the word uur when it is exactly on the hour. You drop it when talking about minutes.

The half hour (the tricky part)

This is where most beginners make mistakes.

In English, when we say “half past five,” we mean 5:30. We look back at the hour that just passed.

Dutch looks forward to the next hour.

In Dutch, the word half means “halfway to.”

So, if you want to say 5:30, you literally say “half six” (half zes). You are saying you are halfway to six o’clock.

• 5:30 = Half zes (Halfway to 6)
• 8:30 = Half negen (Halfway to 9)
• 11:30 = Half twaalf (Halfway to 12)

Remember: Always take the current hour and add one. If your watch says 4:30, your mouth says half vijf.

Quarter past and quarter to

Just like in English, Dutch uses quarters to split up the hour.

• Kwart over = Quarter past
• Kwart voor = Quarter to

These relate to the current hour (for over) and the next hour (for voor), which is very similar to English.

The minutes (relative time)

This is the part of Dutch grammar that usually causes the most headaches for learners.

For the first 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes of the hour, it is simple. You just use over (past) and voor (to).

• 4:05 = Vijf over vier (Five past four)
• 4:10 = Tien over vier (Ten past four)
• 4:50 = Tien voor vijf (Ten to five)
• 4:55 = Vijf voor vijf (Five to five)

However, the Dutch handle the minutes around the half-hour mark differently.

Because the “half hour” (half …) is such a strong anchor point in Dutch time-telling, minutes are often related to the half hour rather than the full hour.

This happens specifically at the 20-minute and 40-minute marks.

• x:20 is viewed as “10 minutes before the half hour.”
• x:40 is viewed as “10 minutes past the half hour.”

Let’s look at 5:20 as an example. The half-hour mark is 5:30 (half zes). 5:20 is ten minutes before that. So, 5:20 is tien voor half zes.

Let’s look at 5:40. The half-hour mark is 5:30 (half zes). 5:40 is ten minutes past that. So, 5:40 is tien over half zes.

Here is a summary table to help you visualize it using 5:00 to 6:00 as the example:

Digital Time	Dutch Phrase	English Literal Meaning
5:00	Vijf uur	Five hour
5:15	Kwart over vijf	Quarter past five
5:20	Tien voor half zes	Ten before half six
5:25	Vijf voor half zes	Five before half six
5:30	Half zes	Half (to) six
5:35	Vijf over half zes	Five past half six
5:40	Tien over half zes	Ten past half six
5:45	Kwart voor zes	Quarter to six

Times of day and the 24-hour clock

In the Netherlands and Belgium, the 24-hour clock is used for everything official. This includes train schedules, digital clocks, flight times, and cinema listings.

If you see 18:00, everyone knows it is 6:00 PM.

However, when people speak to each other, they rarely say “It is eighteen hour.” They simply use the 12-hour clock (saying “zes uur”) and the context of the day usually makes it clear.

If you need to be specific, you can add the time of day:

• ’s Ochtends (In the morning)
• ‘s Middags (In the afternoon)
• ‘s Avonds (In the evening)
• ‘s Nachts (At night)

Note on pronunciation: The ‘s at the start is short for des. It sounds like a sharp “s” attached to the next word.

Summary

Telling time in Dutch takes a little bit of practice, mainly because you have to constantly “calculate” where you are relative to the half-hour mark.

Key takeaways:

1. Half means halfway to the next hour (Half 7 = 6:30).
2. Kwart voor/over works just like English.
3. 20 and 40 minutes relate to the half hour (Tien voor half / Tien over half).

Once you get used to looking forward to the next hour rather than backward at the last one, you will be telling time like a local!

Veel succes! (Good luck!)