Telling the Time

Level 2

ساعت سه است tells the time: it is three o’clock. دو ساعت is a duration of two hours.

How It Works

Ask and answer the time. ساعت چند است؟ asks “What time is it?” ساعت سه است answers “It is three o’clock.” A common everyday question is ساعت چنده؟, with the spoken copula.

Add minutes. ساعت سه و ربع است is 3:15, and ساعت سه و نیم است is 3:30. The linking و joins the hour to the quarter or half. An explicit minute count is also possible: ساعت سه و ده دقیقه است, 3:10.

Context or a time-of-day phrase distinguishes morning, afternoon or evening. A displayed ۲۴-hour schedule should be read as the actual schedule rather than silently converted to an ambiguous twelve-hour phrase.

Count a duration separately. دو ساعت کار کردم means “I worked for two hours.” دو ساعت is a duration; it is not the same as ساعت دو, “two o’clock.”

For an appointment, فردا ساعت سه می‌آیم means “I will come at three tomorrow.” English needs “at” here, while this Persian phrase does not require a separate translation of that preposition.

Examples (4)

  1. ساعت چند است؟

    What time is it?

    ساعت introduces the clock-time question.

  2. ساعت سه و نیم است.

    It is three thirty.

    The half follows the hour through و.

  3. دو ساعت کار کردم.

    I worked for two hours.

    The number before ساعت counts a duration.

  4. فردا ساعت سه می‌آیم.

    I will come at three tomorrow.

    Clock time can appear directly in the clause as an appointment time.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Telling the TimeLevel 2

Learn This First

Read ساعت before a clock hour, and distinguish that from a number before ساعت expressing duration.