How to Tell Time in Romanian- a Full Guide for Beginners

In a previous article we mentioned the importance of the free time in our lives and how this could benefit us in multiple ways. Of course we did that by providing as always some key Romanian words, like we were delivering online private Romanian lessons. I hope you enjoyed it. In this one, we will get in the practical thing of the case. Again, we will play the role of the Romanian tutor and we will present you the words that will help you with the following:

• How to ask for the time
• How to respond to this question

In addition, as we will suppose that we are on the street and we want to ask kindly from someone to help us with this question for the time, we will see some Romanian phrases which express requests in a kind and polite way. So, pay attention to these Romanian lessons for foreigners as they will definitely help you.

Let’s start with a question. How many times did you go for jogging in a park let’s say and you didn’t get your phone with you or its battery died? Don’t hesitate with the first pedestrian you will meet in your way and ask him:

puteți să îmi spuneți cât e ceasul? = can you tell me what time it is?

Here we used the polite way in the second person of plural as it is happening in Romanian language.

In case you feel more familiar with someone or in case you meet accidentally with a friend you can say:

te rog să-mi spui cât e ceasul = please tell me what time it is

Alternative expressions with the same meaning are the following:

cât e ora? / ce oră e = what is the time?

spune-mi, te rog, cât e ora? = tell me please, what time is it?

The last two expressions are written in informal way. If you want to be formal, you can use the following:

domnule / doamnă știți cât este ceasul? = sir / madame do you know what time it is?

OK, I know we are on the 21^st century, even if you don’t have your phone with you, you most probably will have a smartwatch (don’t forget you went for jogging!) so this question I suppose it is a little bit outdated, but it is good to know it right?

Let’s see now how the pedestrian will answer us. Most probably he/she will be very polite as well so he may start like this:

da, sigur = yes, sure

este trei fix = it’s three o’clock

este patru și jumătate = it’s half past four

este două și cinci minute = it’s five past two

este opt și un sfert = it’s a quarter past eight

este șapte fără un sfert = it’s a quarter to seven

este un fără zece = it’s ten to one

devreme = early

târziu = late

For the end of our Romanian lessons, we will present you few expressions that are related with the time in a way:

I have to be there at 4 = trebuie să fiu acolo la 4

Vlad, please hurry up! = Vlad, te rog grabește-te!

take your time = nu te grăbește

I will be at the gym from 3-5 = voi fi la sală de la 3-5

sorry for being late = îmi pare rău pentru întârziere

And after these words you learned today, no more excuses. Now you know!