Grammar in brief: Three o’clock, at three, from three till five

1At a glance

Look at the minute hand. On the right, before the half (minutes 1 to 29), the minutes have gone past: the hour takes -⁠ı and geçiyor. On the left, after the half (31 to 59), they’re still to come: the next hour takes -⁠a and var. Exactly 30 is buçuk, and 15 on either side is çeyrek. And if the question is “at what time?”, geçiyor turns into geçe, var into kala, and a whole hour or a half takes -⁠da.

On the hour, and half past üç buçuk

The minutes: :00, or exactly :30
The hour: as it is; half past is buçuk, after the number
What time it is: Saat üç — three o’clock. Saat üç buçuk — half past three
At what time: -⁠da on the last word: üçte, üç buçukta
Its quirk: the half counts from the hour that’s already come: üç buçuk is 3:30

Minutes past üçü beş

The minutes: 1 to 29, before the half. 15 is çeyrek: üçü çeyrek geçiyor — 3:15, literally “passing three by a quarter”
The hour: the one you’ve passed, in -⁠ı by harmony: üçü, altıyı
What time it is: Saat üçü beş geçiyor — five past three
At what time: geçiyor → geçe: üçü beş geçe — at 3:05
Its quirk: dört softens before a vowel: dördü. Not before -⁠te: dörtte

Minutes to dörde beş

The minutes: 31 to 59, after the half. 15 to is çeyrek too: üçe çeyrek var — 2:45, literally “to three there is a quarter”
The hour: the next one, in -⁠a, “to”: dörde, altıya
What time it is: Saat dörde beş var — five to four
At what time: var → kala: dörde beş kala — at 3:55
Its quirk: the same in digits: beşe on var is dört elli

2The key points

The minutes and the quarter never change: beş, yirmi, çeyrek. Only the hour takes an ending.
Morning or evening goes in front: sabah yedide, öğleden sonra üçte, gece birde.
On boards, tickets and timetables the time is in digits, with a full stop: 17.40 is read on yedi kırk. “At” is the same -⁠da on the last number, after an apostrophe: 17.40’ta.
Any time can open or close a span: “from” is -⁠dan, “till” is -⁠a kadar. Dokuzdan beşe kadar, 9.30’dan 17.45’e kadar. -⁠a kadar alone is just “till”: beşe kadar.
Saat in front gives the time: saat beş, five o’clock. The number in front gives a length: beş saat, five hours. The half works the same way: saat bir buçuk is half past one, bir buçuk saat an hour and a half.

3How it works

The twelve hours in three forms. The hour you’ve gone past takes -⁠ı, -⁠i, -⁠u or -⁠ü, with a y after a vowel:

biri, ikiyi, üçü, dördü, beşi, altıyı, yediyi, sekizi, dokuzu, onu, on biri, on ikiyi— with geçiyor and geçe

The hour you’re heading for takes -⁠a or -⁠e, “to”:

bire, ikiye, üçe, dörde, beşe, altıya, yediye, sekize, dokuza, ona, on bire, on ikiye— with var, kala and kadar

And “at” is -⁠da, by harmony and by Fıstıkçı Şahap:

birde, ikide, üçte, dörtte, beşte, altıda, yedide, sekizde, dokuzda, onda, on birde, on ikide— at one, at two, at three… at twelve

Kadar asks the way it answers: kaça kadar?, “till when?”, kaçtan kaça kadar?, “from what time till what time?”. And it measures the road as well as the clock.

— Market kaçtan kaça kadar açık? — Sabah sekizden gece on bire kadar.— What are the shop’s hours? — From eight in the morning till eleven at night.

Okuldan eve kadar yirmi dakika.— It’s twenty minutes from school to home.

“Exactly” is tam. It goes before a time and before a length alike: tam saat beşte, at five on the dot; tam iki saat, a full two hours.

Vapur tam saat dokuzda kalkıyor, beklemiyor.— The ferry leaves at nine on the dot. It doesn’t wait.

In digits the ending goes by the last word you actually say: 13.00’te is on üçte, 13.30’da is on üç otuzda, 9.15’te is dokuz on beşte. The zeros aren’t read: 20.00’de is yirmide.

Otobüs 13.30’da kalkıyor, 18.15’te Ankara’da.— The bus leaves at 13:30 and gets to Ankara at 18:15.

4In real life

— Saat kaç? — Dördü çeyrek geçiyor.— What time is it? — Quarter past four.

Hadi, beşe on var! Geç kalıyoruz!Come on, it’s ten to five! We’re going to be late!

— Yarın kaçta buluşalım? — Onu çeyrek geçe, okulun önünde.— What time shall we meet tomorrow? — Quarter past ten, outside the school.

Yarın altı buçukta kalkıyorum, bu akşam erken yatıyorum.I’m up at half six tomorrow, so I’m having an early night.

— Fırın kaça kadar açık? — Akşam yediye kadar.— How late is the bakery open? — Till seven.

Gece saat birde hâlâ çay içiyoruz.It’s one in the morning and we’re still drinking tea.

Yol iki saat sürüyor. Saat ikide çıkıyoruz, dörtte oradayız.It’s a two-hour drive. We leave at two and we’re there by four.

5Where it’s easy to slip

Not like this	Like this	Why
saat üçde	saat üçte	After a voiceless ç, t.
üçe beş geçiyor	üçü beş geçiyor	Minutes past: the hour in -⁠ı.
dörtü	dördü	t before a vowel becomes d.
üç buçuk	iki buçuk	2:30: count from the hour that’s come.
üçü beş geçede	üçü beş geçe	Geçe already means “at”.
beşte kadar	beşe kadar	Before kadar, “to”.
beş saatte	saat beşte	“At five”: saat first.

6Check yourself

Four questions, each with two or three rules at once: which hour, which ending, which word. Every wrong answer slips on exactly one.

1“The film starts at twenty to nine in the evening” (20:40). Which is right throughout?

2It’s ten past four (4:10), and the bus is at half past four. Fill in the time.

Saat ? geçiyor, otobüs dört buçukta kalkıyor.

3On the shop door: “8:30 till seven in the evening”. How do you say it out loud?

4“The bus leaves at 13:30 and takes five hours.” Which is right throughout?