Different cultures also have different ways of measuring and valuing time. This can have a major impact on their daily lives and interactions. Many Western cultures measure time in precise units such as hours and minutes and punctuality is critical and a sign of respect and professionalism. Schedules and deadlines are not only relevant in one´s professional life but also private life. Some Eastern cultures, mainly indigenous ones, on the other hand, think more in natural and lunar cycles. Flexibility and relationships are often more important than following strict schedules. Latin American cultures have a more relaxed attitude. Social interactions and relationships take priority over deadlines and appointments. Time management for them is more fluid.
Measuring time
No matter whether you get up at the crack of dawn or sleep in until long after sunrise, your wristwatch or the clock on your nightstand or the wall will determine the rest of your day. Early birds often don´t have to set an alarm and are happy to get out of bed with or without an alarm going off. The clock face with its hour, minute and second hand can tell the time just as a digital clock with its digits. Sundials or cuckoo clocks are nowadays mostly used for nostalgic reasons. Stopwatches are essential tools for athletes mainly or anyone who needs precise timing. A timer is used for setting specific durations for tasks, no matter whether it´s a workout or baking a cake.
Asking for the time (Wie spät ist es?):
- What time is it?
- What´s the time?
- Have you got the time? (UK)
- Do you have the time? (US)
- What time do you make it? (UK)
- What time do you have? (US)
Clock times
- half past four/four thirty - halb fünf
- (a) quarter to five Viertel - vor fünf, dreiviertel fünf
- 18 minutes past six - 18 Minuten nach sechs
- ten to eight - zehn vor acht
- 25 to seven - fünf nach halb sieben
- around five - ungefähr um fünf Uhr
- elevenish - so gegen 11 Uhr
- 12 noon - 12 Uhr Mittag
- 12 midnight - 24 Uhr Mitternacht
Remember
'Half nine' in English means 9:30, i.e. half past nine (half of the whole 9 o´clock hour). There is no 'half to' meaning as in German:
- twenty past five (UK) - twenty after five (US)
- ten to three (UK) - ten to/of three (US)
- ´o´clock´ is only used at the full hour: »It´s exactly ten o´clock«.
- a.m. (ante meridiem) vor 12 Uhr Mittag, in der Zeit von 0 Uhr bis 12 Uhr
- p.m. (post meridiem) nach 12 Uhr Mittag, in der Zeit von 12 Uhr bis 24 Uhr
- Don´t say ´a.m.´ and ´p.m.´ with´ o´clock´, ´past´ and ´to´.
The 12-hour clock is mostly used in English, except for transport timetables when the 24-hour clock is always used.
Calendars measure longer periods of time and help organize your days, weeks, months and years. No matter, whether it’s a wall calendar or your desk diary, people tend to mark appointments in their calendars and check them to avoid running late for meetings and the like.
Most employees at work must clock in and out in the company’s time clock with a time card (timesheet). Don’t forget to use your parking disk at a grocery store after work or to feed the parking meter when running an errand. Make sure you come back in time because you risk getting a parking ticket when the parking meter has expired. Parking coupons must be placed behind the windscreen.
Time at work
For most people, the day begins with the routine of getting to work, whether it’s a short commute or a longer journey. Once they arrive at work, the first task is to clock in, thus starting their official working hours.
For those who work full-time, it’s a common thing to work late to meet deadlines or complete important projects. Some employees can work flexitime and adjust their hours to their private lives. Others, however, are on call 24/7, always ready to respond to urgent needs outside their regular working day.
Some employees work shifts, day or night shifts, and many put in overtime to ensure that their tasks are completed. And finally, it’s knocking-off time, time to clock out, leave work and hopefully spend quality time with your family or friends.
Finding time
Meetings with colleagues need to be arranged in advance because people’s calendars are usually quite full.
| Making arrangements |
| Are you free later today? | Haben Sie im Laufe des Tages Zeit? |
| Are you available on Wednesday? | Hast du am Mittwoch Zeit? |
| Would the 20th suit you? | Wäre Ihnen der 20. recht? |
| Would the 22nd be more convenient for you? | Würde Ihnen der 22. besser passen? |
| Would 3 p.m. be OK for you? | Wäre dir 15 Uhr recht? |
| How about two o’clock in my office? | Wie wäre es mit 14 Uhr in meinem Büro? |
| Shall we say Friday morning in the first-floor meeting room? | Sagen wir Freitagvormittag im Konferenzraum im ersten Stock? |
| Let’s pencil in Tuesday. | Merken wir uns doch Dienstag vor. |
But then again appointments must be changed because of more important things that have come up, for example.
| Changing appointments |
| I’m afraid, I can’t make Tuesday. | I’m afraid, I can’t make Tuesday |
| Unfortunately, I’m tied up all day. | Leider bin ich den ganzen Tag verplant. |
| I’d like to reschedule our appointment. | Ich würde unseren Termin gerne verlegen. |
| I’m afraid, I have to postpone my trip. | Ich muss meine Reise leider verschieben. |
| It looks like I’ll have to put off my visit. | Ich muss meinen Besuch wohl leider verschieben. |
| How about meeting next week instead? | Wie wäre es stattdessen mit nächster Woche? |
| I was wondering whether we could meet a little later | Könnten wir uns vielleicht etwas später treffen? |
| Could we move the meeting to the 23rd? | Könnten wir die Besprechung auf den 23. verschieben? |
What is the difference between being ‘on time’ or ‘in time’ when you have an appointment?
- ‘on time’ means punctually, at the arranged time (pünktlich) - You arrive at work at precisely 8 o’clock. You are not late or early but on time. Why weren’t you on time for the meeting? Sorry traffic was really bad.
- ‘in time’ means early enough, not late (rechtzeitig) - You arrive with some time to spare, e.g. 7:50 or 7:55. Susan, you’ve arrived just in time. We need your help.
Times and dates
| When? |
| ages ago | vor sehr langer Zeit |
| last year | letztes Jahr |
| this time last year | letztes Jahr um diese Zeit |
| two days ago | vor zwei Tagen |
| the day before yesterday | vorgestern |
| the day after tomorrow | übermorgen |
| the previous week | in der vorherigen Woche |
| the following week | in der darauffolgenden Woche |
| Monday week (UK) | Montag in einer Woche |
| in a fortnight (UK) | in 14 Tagen |
| a year from now | in einem Jahr |
| next year | nächstes Jahr |
There is a funny saying about the English language: They don’t have a proper word for ‘übermorgen’ or ‘vorgestern’ but have an expression for the act of throwing someone or something out of the window: ‘defenestration’.
Remember
- The German ‘vor` always means ‘ago’ in the context of time : I started working in this company 5 years ago. ‘Ago’ is always used with the Past Tense.
- ‘For’ means ‘seit’ of ‘….lang’: I’ve worked in this department for seven years. (Ich arbeite seit sieben Jahren in dieser Abteilung.)
- In German we use the Present Tense (Gegenwart), in English you must use the Present Perfect ('have' + 3. Verbform) because it started in the past (seven years ago) and you still work there, i.e. it still goes on. ‘I worked in this department for seven years’ (Past Tense = Vergangenheit) means you no longer work there. (Ich habe sieben Jahre in dieser Abteilung gearbeitet.)
Calendar dates in English
How to say them and how to write them:
UK: start with the day of the month, then the year
- 14 January 2005 (or only in numbers) →
- 14/1/2005
- 14 -1-2005 or 14.1.05
- 14th January 2005.
US: start with the month, followed by the day and year
- July 4, 2024
- July 4th, 2024
- 7/4/2024.
Most of us remember 9/11 and know that the terrorist attack against the World Trade Center happened on 11th September 2001.
Speaking the date
- What date is it? It’s the 25th of February (25th February)
- What’s the date today? It’s March the first (March 1st)
- What’s today’s date? Second of May. (2nd May)
Months can be shortened: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec. May and June are not shortened. In your correspondence always write the name of the month instead of using numbers to avoid any misunderstandings. Most countries in Asia also use the year/month/day format, and Canada uses a combination of all.
Speaking the year
- 1995: nineteen ninety-five
- 1906: nineteen oh six
- 2000: two thousand
- 2004: two thousand and four or twenty oh four
- 2025: two thousand and twenty-five or twenty twenty-five.
- I don’t need it until Friday, so there’s no hurry. (es eilt nicht)
- They need to allot (zuteilen) more time for this project.
- I’m short of time, so let’s talk tomorrow. (wenig Zeit haben)
- We have no time to lose, let’s get started.
- This project is a race against time.
- It’s high time (höchste Zeit) that you told me about the problems.
- I hope we’ll find a way to make up for the lost time. (Versäumtes nachholen)
- Can we fast-track this process to still make it in time? (beschleunigen)
- I think this is the only sustainable solution in the long term/run. (langfristig)
- They decided to invest in the project at the eleventh hour. (in letzter Sekunde)
- The discussions were intense, but at last (endlich, schließlich) they reached an agreement.
- Better late than never.
- We need to play for time until I have spoken to the boss. (Zeit schinden)
- All in good time. (Alles zu seiner Zeit)
- Only time will tell. (Kommt Zeit, kommt Rat)
- That was a total waste of time. (Das war reine Zeitverschwendung)
- You have to keep up with the times. (Man muss mit der Zeit gehen)
- It’s only a matter of time. (Es ist nur eine Frage der Zeit)
- I’ve told you time and again. (Ich habe es dir immer wieder gesagt)
- A stitch in time saves nine. (Was du heute kannst besorgen, das verschiebe nicht auf morgen)
So much for today. Constant connectivity and instant access to information give us the feeling that time is moving faster. There is always a sense of urgency in our daily lives and we feel the pressure to keep up with all of it. Therefore, maintaining a healthy work-life balance is more important than ever. With working remotely and staying connected at all times, many of us struggle to ‘switch off’. So let’s all try to be more aware of these challenges and prioritize self-care more often. Stay tuned!
