Koľko je hodín

Telling the Time

Level 2

Ask Koľko je hodín? and answer with a number and hodina: Je jedna hodina, Sú dve hodiny, Je päť hodín. To say at what time, use o and an ordinal: o druhej (at two), o pol tretej (at half past two).

How It Works

What time is it?

  • Je jedna hodina. (1:00)
  • Sú dve hodiny. Sú tri hodiny. Sú štyri hodiny. (2:00 to 4:00)
  • Je päť hodín. Je dvanásť hodín. (5:00 and later)
  • Je poludnie. Je polnoc. (noon, midnight)

Hodina is feminine, so two is dve, and from five up the noun is genitive plural, as after päť.

Halves and quarters look ahead to the next hour.

  • Je pol tretej. (2:30, half of the third hour)
  • Je štvrť na tri. (2:15)
  • Je tri štvrte na tri. (2:45)

So pol tretej is not half past three. This is the step learners most often get wrong.

At what time? Ask O koľkej? (you will also hear O ktorej?). Answer with o and the feminine ordinal in the locative: o jednej, o druhej, o tretej, o piatej, o dvanástej. Halves and quarters work the same way: o pol tretej, o štvrť na tri, o tri štvrte na tri.

Minutes and timetables. Je päť hodín a desať minút (5:10); in casual speech simply Je päť desať. Timetables use the 24-hour clock: Vlak ide o 14.30, read o štrnástej tridsať.

Examples (6)

  1. Prepáčte, koľko je hodín?

    Excuse me, what time is it?

    Word by Word: Excuse-me, how-many is of-hours?

  2. Sú tri hodiny.

    It's three o'clock.

    Word by Word: Are three hours.

    With two, three and four the verb is sú and the noun is hodiny.

  3. Je päť hodín.

    It's five o'clock.

    Word by Word: Is five of-hours.

    From five up the verb is je and the noun is the genitive plural hodín.

  4. Stretneme sa o pol tretej.

    We'll meet at half past two.

    Word by Word: We-meet at half of-third.

    Pol tretej is half of the third hour, so 2:30.

  5. Film začína o ôsmej.

    The film starts at eight.

    Word by Word: Film starts at eighth.

  6. Je štvrť na desať.

    It's a quarter past nine.

    Word by Word: Is quarter onto ten.

    A quarter toward ten is 9:15.

Common Mistakes

  • Using dva and je with two o'clock.

    Je dva hodiny.
    Sú dve hodiny.

    Hodina is feminine, so two is dve, and with two, three and four the verb is sú.

  • Using the plural hodiny after five.

    Je päť hodiny.
    Je päť hodín.

    From five up the noun is genitive plural (hodín) and the verb is je.

  • Counting a half hour back to the last hour, as in English half past two.

    Stretneme sa o pol druhej.
    Stretneme sa o pol tretej.

    If you mean 2:30, say pol tretej. Pol druhej means 1:30, because the half counts toward the next hour.

How It Connects

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

Koľko je hodínLevel 2Telling the Time

Learn This First

Before Telling the Time, learn First, Second and Third and How Much and How Many. Clock times use ordinals: o tretej. Koľko je hodín is a koľko question.

Words in This Pattern

koľko je hodínhodinaopolhodiny