Telling time & dates in Hindi
How to ask the clock, say the hour, handle the quarter-and-half words, and speak dates — the practical Hindi of appointments, trains, and "see you at half past five".
Time vocabulary is one of those small areas that quietly unlocks daily life: meeting a friend, catching a train, asking when a shop opens. The Hindi system is mostly logical once you meet four special words — बजे, सवा, साढ़े, and पौने. They do the heavy lifting for almost every time you'll ever say. This page builds on the counting you'll find on our numbers in Hindi page, so if your 1–12 is shaky, start there first.
Two words cover "time" itself: समय (samay) is the neutral, slightly formal term, while वक़्त (waqt), borrowed from Urdu/Arabic, is just as common in speech. Either works when you ask what time it is.
Asking and the core words
| English | Hindi | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Time | समय | samay |
| Time (colloquial) | वक़्त | waqt |
| What time is it? | क्या समय हुआ है? | kya samay hua hai? |
| What o'clock is it? | कितने बजे हैं? | kitne baje hain? |
| O'clock | बजे | baje |
| Hour | घंटा | ghanta |
| Minute | मिनट | minat |
| Quarter past (+15) | सवा | sava |
| Half past (+30) | साढ़े | saadhe |
| Quarter to (−15) | पौने | paune |
Example times on the clock
| Clock | Hindi | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| 1:00 | एक बजे | ek baje |
| 2:15 | सवा दो | sava do |
| 1:30 | डेढ़ बजे | dedh baje |
| 2:30 | ढाई बजे | dhai baje |
| 3:30 | साढ़े तीन | saadhe teen |
| 3:45 | पौने चार | paune chaar |
| 4:15 | सवा चार | sava chaar |
| 5:00 | पाँच बजे | paanch baje |
| 10:10 | दस बजकर दस मिनट | das bajkar das minat |
Parts of the day
| English | Hindi | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Morning | सुबह | subah |
| Noon / afternoon | दोपहर | dopahar |
| Evening | शाम | shaam |
| Night | रात | raat |
| Today | आज | aaj |
| Tomorrow / yesterday | कल | kal |
| Date (calendar) | तारीख़ | taareekh |
Seconds, minutes, hours: units of time
| English | Hindi | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Second | सेकंड | second |
| Minute | मिनट | minat |
| Hour | घंटा | ghanta |
| Hours (plural) | घंटे | ghante |
| Day | दिन | din |
| Week | हफ़्ता / सप्ताह | hafta / saptaah |
| Month | महीना | maheena |
| Year | साल / वर्ष | saal / varsh |
| Moment, instant | पल | pal |
Durations: “six hours”, “half an hour” and more
Put the number before the unit. घंटा (ghanta) becomes घंटे (ghante) for two or more — so “six hours” is छह घंटे (chhah ghante). मिनट and सेकंड don't change. The same डेढ़ and ढाई used on the clock also mean 1½ and 2½ of anything.
| English | Hindi | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Five minutes | पाँच मिनट | paanch minat |
| Half an hour | आधा घंटा | aadha ghanta |
| One hour | एक घंटा | ek ghanta |
| An hour and a half | डेढ़ घंटा | dedh ghanta |
| Two and a half hours | ढाई घंटे | dhaai ghante |
| Six hours | छह घंटे | chhah ghante |
| 24 hours | चौबीस घंटे | chaubees ghante |
| Two days | दो दिन | do din |
| In ten minutes | दस मिनट में | das minat mein |
| For two hours | दो घंटे से / दो घंटे तक | do ghante se / do ghante tak |
| Three hours ago | तीन घंटे पहले | teen ghante pehle |
| After one week | एक हफ़्ते बाद | ek hafte baad |
Usage notes & common mistakes
a.m. / p.m. Hindi has no a.m./p.m.; you place the part of the day before the time. "Seven in the morning" is सुबह सात बजे (subah saat baje), and "eight at night" is रात आठ बजे (raat aath baje).
The same word for tomorrow and yesterday. कल (kal) means both — the verb tense tells you which. With a future verb it's tomorrow; with a past verb it's yesterday. The day before/after is परसों (parson).
Speaking dates. Dates are read as "number + month": "the 5th of June" is पाँच जून (paanch joon). For the day-of-month number you use ordinary counting (see our numbers page), and the English month names are widely used and understood. For the month list itself, see months in Hindi.
The classic beginner trap is forcing saadhe onto one and two o'clock. Say डेढ़ and ढाई instead — every native speaker does.
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