Minutes Past and To

Level 3

Turkish tells time by looking at the direction of the minutes. For 1–29 minutes, we say they are 'passing' the hour (Accusative + geçiyor). For 31–59 minutes, we say they 'exist until' the next hour (Dative + var).

How It Works

To tell the time in Turkish, you must apply four-way vowel harmony for 'past' and two-way vowel harmony for 'to'.

1. Minutes Past (1–29):
Structure: [Hour] + -(y)ı/i/u/ü + [Minutes] + geçiyor.
Example: saat ikiyi on geçiyor (It is ten past two).

2. Minutes To (31–59):
Structure: [Next Hour] + -(y)a/e + [Minutes remaining] + var.
Example: saat üçe beş var (It is five to three).

3. Special Terms:

  • Çeyrek: Used for 15 minutes (quarter).
  • Buçuk: Used for 30 minutes (half past). It is the standard term for all half-hour increments (e.g., 1:30, 2:30) and does not take the Accusative or Dative suffixes used for other minutes.
  • Yarım: Specifically used for 12:30 (half) when it stands alone as a time.

4. Adverbial Form ('At'):
To say 'at' a certain time for an event:

  • For whole hours, add the locative case directly to the number: saat üçte (at three o'clock).
  • geçiyor becomes geçe (e.g., beşi on geçe - at ten past five).
  • var becomes kala (e.g., altıya yirmi kala - at twenty to six).
  • For half-hours, use the locative case: buçukta (e.g., saat dört buçukta - at four thirty).

Examples (5)

  1. Saat sekizi çeyrek geçiyor.

    It is a quarter past eight.

    Word by Word: Hour eight-(acc) quarter passing.

    Uses the accusative suffix -i on 'sekiz' because the minutes are in the first half of the hour.

  2. Saat dokuza yirmi var.

    It is twenty to nine.

    Word by Word: Hour nine-(dat) twenty there-is.

    Uses the dative suffix -a on 'dokuz' to indicate the time is approaching nine.

  3. Toplantı saat ikiyi on geçe başlayacak.

    The meeting will start at ten past two.

    Word by Word: Meeting hour two-(acc) ten passing-at will-start.

    The verb 'geçiyor' changes to 'geçe' to function as 'at' for a scheduled event.

  4. Otobüs saat dörde beş kala geldi.

    The bus arrived at five to four.

    Word by Word: Bus hour four-(dat) five remaining-at came.

    The word 'var' changes to 'kala' to indicate 'at' a time in the 'to' half of the clock. Note the consonant softening in 'dört' to 'dörd-'.

  5. Saat altıyı yirmi geçiyor.

    It is twenty past six.

    Word by Word: Hour six-(acc) twenty passing.

    A buffer -y- is used between 'altı' and the accusative suffix -ı.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the current hour instead of the upcoming hour for 'minutes to'.

    Saat ikiye on var. (for 2:50)
    Saat üçe on var.

    Just like in English, when it is 2:50, you say it is ten to THREE, not ten to two.

  • Using 'geçiyor' or 'var' to schedule an event.

    Saat üçü on geçiyor buluşalım.
    Saat üçü on geçe buluşalım.

    Use 'geçiyor/var' only to state what time it is now. Use 'geçe/kala' to say 'at' what time something happens.

  • Using the Dative case instead of the Accusative case for minutes past the hour.

    Saat ikiye on geçiyor.
    Saat ikiyi on geçiyor.

    When minutes are past the hour, the hour takes the Accusative case suffix -(y)i, not the Dative case suffix -(y)e.

How It Connects

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

Minutes Past and ToLevel 3

Learn This First

To tell the time in minutes past or to the hour, you must first be comfortable with basic numbers and the 'saat kaç' structure. Grammatically, this pattern relies on the accusative case for 'past' (using the verb geçmek) and the dative case for 'to' (using the word var).

Words in This Pattern

geçmek