Lesson 14: What Time Is It?

Now that you can count, you can tell the time. Hebrew uses the feminine numbers for the hour, plus two little words for “half” and “quarter”.

Catching the train

Grammar: telling the time

To ask the time: מָה הַשָּׁעָה? (ma hasha’a?, literally “what is the hour?”). To answer, say הַשָּׁעָה (hasha’a) + the number:

Hebrew	Romanization	English
הַשָּׁעָה אַחַת	hasha’a achat	it’s one o’clock
הַשָּׁעָה שְׁתַּיִם	hasha’a shtayim	it’s two o’clock
שָׁלוֹשׁ וָרֶבַע	shalosh vareva	quarter past three (3:15)
שָׁלוֹשׁ וָחֵצִי	shalosh vachetsi	half past three (3:30)

So וָחֵצִי (vachetsi) = “and a half”, and וָרֶבַע (vareva) = “and a quarter”. To say something happens at a time, add בְּ־ (be-): בְּשָׁלוֹשׁ (beshalosh, “at three”).

Tip: בְּעוֹד (be’od) means “in / within”: בְּעוֹד חֲצִי שָׁעָה — “in half an hour”.

Vocabulary