⏰ Italian: My Day and the Time

To ask the time in Italian we say Che ore sono? It means “What time is it?” We can also say Che ora è?

For o’clock we say Sono le and then the number: Sono le tre. Only for one o’clock we use the singular: È l’una.

For a quarter past we say e un quarto, for half past e mezza. After half past we name the next hour and count back: 7:45 is le otto meno un quarto, “eight minus a quarter”, our quarter to eight.

Noon is mezzogiorno, midnight is mezzanotte. Both are singular: È mezzogiorno. On the clock both show twelve, but one is sunny and one is starry!

To ask what time something happens we say A che ora? The answer has alle and the hour: Alle sette. It means “At seven o’clock.” For one o’clock we say all’una.

With some verbs we do the action to ourselves. Alzarsi (to get up): first comes mi, meaning “myself”: Mi alzo alle sette. It is the same for waking up: Mi sveglio alle sette.

The day begins! Mi alzo alle sette. I get up at seven o’clock. Faccio colazione alle sette e mezza. I have breakfast at half past seven.

Esco di casa alle otto meno un quarto. I leave the house at a quarter to eight. Pranzo all’una. I have lunch at one o’clock.

Faccio i compiti alle cinque. I do my homework at five o’clock. Vado a letto alle nove di sera. I go to bed at nine in the evening. Di sera means “in the evening”.

Here is our whole day on one clock: getting up, breakfast, school, lunch, homework and bed. Every job has its own time!

The seven days of the week: lunedì, martedì, mercoledì, giovedì, venerdì are school days, sabato, domenica are the weekend. In Italian, days are written with a small letter. Il sabato means “on Saturdays”.

Let’s remember: we ask the time with Che ore sono? We say it with e un quarto, e mezza and meno un quarto. We start the day with mi alzo and end it with vado a letto. Now try it in La Mia Giornata!