Telling Time and Dates in Hebrew

In Brief

Ask מה השעה? (ma ha-sha'ah?) for “What time is it?” and answer with השעה + a feminine number, as in השעה שלוש (“It is three o’clock”). Use ב־ for “at/on/in”: בשעה חמש (“at five”), ביום שלישי (“on Tuesday”), and בינואר (“in January”). Hebrew uses both the Gregorian calendar and the Hebrew calendar, so two sets of month names appear in everyday life.

Overview

Time and dates are among the first practical topics at A1. They let you read opening hours, arrange a meeting, understand an appointment, and say when a birthday or holiday occurs. The key questions are מה השעה? (“What time is it?”), מתי? (“When?”), and איזה יום היום? (“What day is it today?”).

Hebrew does not normally need a verb meaning “is” in simple present-tense statements. השעה שלוש is literally “the hour three,” but natural English requires “It is three o’clock.” Similarly, היום יום שלישי is literally “today Tuesday,” with no spoken equivalent of English “is.”

Numbers matter here, but time expressions have their own patterns. שעה (“hour”) is a feminine noun (a naming word that Hebrew treats grammatically as feminine), so clock hours use forms such as אחת, שתיים, and שלוש. Weekdays, by contrast, are built around masculine יום (“day”). Learn each time phrase as a whole rather than trying to transfer the English structure word for word.

How It Works

Asking when and what time

The general question מתי? means “When?” It can stand alone or introduce a full question:

• מתי השיעור? — When is the lesson?
• מתי החנות פתוחה? — When is the shop open?
• באיזו שעה הפגישה? — At what time is the meeting?

Use מה השעה? when asking for the current clock time. באיזו שעה? asks at what time an event happens. The word איזו agrees with feminine שעה.

Whole hours

For a whole hour, use השעה + number. The noun שעה is understood even when a speaker gives only the number in a short answer.

Time	Hebrew	Transliteration
1:00	השעה אחת	ha-sha'ah achat
2:00	השעה שתיים	ha-sha'ah shtayim
3:00	השעה שלוש	ha-sha'ah shalosh
4:00	השעה ארבע	ha-sha'ah arba
5:00	השעה חמש	ha-sha'ah chamesh
6:00	השעה שש	ha-sha'ah shesh
7:00	השעה שבע	ha-sha'ah sheva
8:00	השעה שמונה	ha-sha'ah shmone
9:00	השעה תשע	ha-sha'ah tesha
10:00	השעה עשר	ha-sha'ah eser
11:00	השעה אחת עשרה	ha-sha'ah achat esre
12:00	השעה שתים עשרה	ha-sha'ah shtem esre

The pronunciation shown is a broad guide to common Israeli Hebrew, not a substitute for listening practice. In writing without vowel marks, context distinguishes forms whose spelling or pronunciation can otherwise be confusing.

To say that something happens at a time, attach ב־ (“at/in/on”) to שעה: בשעה ארבע (“at four o’clock”). In a timetable, the shorter בארבע (“at four”) is also natural.

Minutes, halves, and quarters

Hebrew can tell time in a digital style by saying the hour and then the minutes. It also has everyday fraction expressions:

Clock time	Common Hebrew	Literal structure
3:05	שלוש וחמש	three and five
3:10	שלוש ועשר	three and ten
3:15	שלוש ורבע	three and a quarter
3:30	שלוש וחצי	three and a half
3:45	רבע לארבע	a quarter to four
3:50	עשרה לארבע	ten to four

ו־ means “and,” while ל־ means “to.” In עשרה לארבע, the form עשרה reflects understood masculine “minutes”; do not infer all number agreement from that one phrase. At beginner level, it is safer to memorize frequent clock combinations as chunks.

For an exact formal reading, especially in announcements, the hour may be followed by minute forms: השעה שמונה ועשרים (“It is 8:20”). Israel commonly uses the 24-hour clock in written schedules, tickets, and official notices: 18:30 may be read as שמונה עשרה ושלושים, although in conversation many people simply say שש וחצי בערב (“half past six in the evening”).

Parts of the day

Hebrew often clarifies an hour with a part of the day. The preposition is built into these common expressions:

Hebrew	Meaning
בבוקר	in the morning
בצהריים	in the afternoon / at noon
אחר הצהריים	in the afternoon
בערב	in the evening
בלילה	at night

Thus בשמונה בבוקר is “at eight in the morning,” while בשמונה בערב is “at eight in the evening.” בחצות means “at midnight,” and בצהריים can mean “at noon” or more generally “in the afternoon,” depending on context.

Days of the week

The Hebrew week begins with Sunday. Sunday through Friday are named as numbered days; Saturday uses שבת.

Day	Hebrew	Basic sense
Sunday	יום ראשון	first day
Monday	יום שני	second day
Tuesday	יום שלישי	third day
Wednesday	יום רביעי	fourth day
Thursday	יום חמישי	fifth day
Friday	יום שישי	sixth day
Saturday	שבת	Sabbath / Saturday

Say היום יום שלישי for “Today is Tuesday.” To say “on Tuesday,” add ב־: ביום שלישי. With Saturday, say בשבת. In everyday conversation, speakers often shorten ביום שלישי to בשלישי when the meaning is clear.

Useful relative-day words are היום (“today”), מחר (“tomorrow”), and אתמול (“yesterday”). מחר בבוקר means “tomorrow morning”; it does not need a preposition equivalent to English “on.”

Gregorian months

The Gregorian month names used in modern Hebrew are mostly recognizable international names written in Hebrew script.

Month	Hebrew	Month	Hebrew
January	ינואר	July	יולי
February	פברואר	August	אוגוסט
March	מרץ	September	ספטמבר
April	אפריל	October	אוקטובר
May	מאי	November	נובמבר
June	יוני	December	דצמבר

Attach ב־ for “in”: בינואר, במרץ, באוגוסט. The spelling change is only the attached preposition; Hebrew writes such short prefixes as part of the following word.

Seasons

Season	Hebrew	Example
spring	אביב	באביב — in spring
summer	קיץ	בקיץ — in summer
autumn / fall	סתיו	בסתיו — in autumn
winter	חורף	בחורף — in winter

The same ב־ pattern covers months and seasons. English alternates among “at,” “on,” and “in”; Hebrew often uses one attached prefix, although the noun and context determine the English translation.

Saying a basic date

A safe beginner pattern is:

היום + day number + ב־ + Gregorian month

For example, היום חמישה במאי means “Today is May fifth.” The day number is based on an understood masculine יום, so date numbers do not simply copy the feminine clock-hour forms. In speech and writing you will hear both cardinal-style dates, such as חמישה במאי, and ordinal wording with ה־, such as החמישה במאי (“the fifth of May”). Because Hebrew number agreement is substantial, learn common dates together with the number system rather than guessing from clock time.

A year is normally read as a number. The practical beginner strategy is to recognize a written year first and learn the full spoken number through the related Numbers topic.

Examples in Context

Hebrew	English	Note
מה השעה?	What time is it?	Standard current-time question
השעה שלוש.	It is three o’clock.	No present-tense “is”
הפגישה בשעה תשע.	The meeting is at nine o’clock.	Full בשעה pattern
הסרט מתחיל בשבע וחצי.	The film starts at half past seven.	וחצי = and a half
עכשיו רבע לאחת.	It is now quarter to one.	Name the coming hour after ל־
אני מגיע בעשר בבוקר.	I arrive at ten in the morning.	Part of day removes ambiguity
איזה יום היום?	What day is it today?	איזה agrees with masculine יום
היום יום שלישי.	Today is Tuesday.	A present-tense verbless sentence
השיעור ביום חמישי.	The lesson is on Thursday.	ב־ = on
אנחנו נוסעים בשבת.	We are traveling on Saturday.	בשבת, not ביום שבת in the simplest pattern
מתי יום ההולדת שלך?	When is your birthday?	מתי asks a general “when” question
יום ההולדת שלי במרץ.	My birthday is in March.	Month with attached ב־
בקיץ חם בישראל.	It is hot in Israel in summer.	Season with ב־
מחר בבוקר אני עובד.	I am working tomorrow morning.	No equivalent of English “on”
היום חמישה במאי.	Today is May fifth.	Date with an understood יום

Common Mistakes

Using the masculine form for one o’clock

• Wrong: השעה אחד.
• Right: השעה אחת.
• Why: שעה is feminine, so “one” is אחת in this clock expression. English does not mark this distinction, which makes the error easy to overlook.

Adding a present-tense form of “to be”

• Wrong: היום הוא יום שלישי as a neutral translation of “Today is Tuesday.”
• Right: היום יום שלישי.
• Why: Simple Hebrew present-tense identity statements often have no spoken verb. A pronoun can occur in some identifying or emphatic sentences, but it is unnecessary here.

Translating English prepositions separately

• Wrong: writing the prefix as a separate word: ב ינואר.
• Right: בינואר.
• Why: ב־ is a prefix, so it attaches to the word: בשעה, ביום, בקיץ.

Naming the wrong hour after “to”

• Wrong: רבע לשלוש for 3:45.
• Right: רבע לארבע.
• Why: The phrase means “a quarter to four,” so Hebrew names the approaching hour, just as English does.

Treating Saturday like another numbered weekday

• Wrong: יום שביעי when you simply mean Saturday.
• Right: שבת or בשבת (“on Saturday”).
• Why: The ordinary weekday name is שבת, not “seventh day.”

Reusing clock forms automatically in calendar dates

• Wrong: assuming השעה חמש means every “five” expression uses חמש.
• Right: השעה חמש, but חמישה במאי for “May fifth.”
• Why: The understood noun changes: feminine שעה governs the clock hour, while masculine יום underlies the calendar date.

Usage Notes

In ordinary conversation, short answers are normal. After מה השעה?, a speaker may answer simply שלוש וחצי rather than repeating השעה. Likewise, בשלישי commonly replaces the fuller ביום שלישי. Learn the full patterns first; the shortened versions will then be transparent.

Israeli timetables frequently use a 24-hour display, but conversation often uses a 12-hour expression plus בבוקר, בערב, or בלילה. Context may make even that qualifier unnecessary. There is no single mandatory spoken format for every setting.

Weekends do not map perfectly onto an English-speaking Monday-to-Friday assumption. Friday is יום שישי, Saturday is שבת, and many schedules treat these days differently because of Shabbat. Always check actual opening hours rather than assuming that “weekend” has exactly the same practical meaning.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the Hebrew calendar at A1, but you will see it in holiday dates, official documents, newspapers, and religious contexts. Its months include תשרי, חשוון, כסלו, טבת, שבט, אדר, ניסן, אייר, סיוון, תמוז, אב, and אלול. In leap years, Adar is divided into אדר א׳ and אדר ב׳. Hebrew-calendar dates conventionally use Hebrew letters as numerals, not only the decimal digits familiar from Gregorian dates.

Formal dates may use ordinal forms (forms meaning “first,” “second,” and so on) with the definite prefix ה־, while everyday speech often uses cardinal number forms in established date patterns. Larger dates expose one of the hardest parts of Hebrew for learners: number gender and special forms before nouns. Treat this as the next layer of the Numbers system, not as an exception to memorize all at once.

You may also encounter לפנות בוקר (“toward dawn / in the very early morning”), אחר הצהריים (“afternoon”), and schedule language such as משעה תשע עד שעה חמש (“from nine until five”). These are useful refinements once whole hours, weekdays, and ב־ feel automatic.

Practice Tips

1. Run a daily three-question routine. Ask and answer מה השעה?, איזה יום היום?, and מתי...? using your real time, weekday, and next appointment.
2. Read actual schedules aloud. Take five times from a cinema, train, or class timetable. Say each once in digital style and once with וחצי, ורבע, or a part of the day when possible.
3. Build two separate number sets. Make one card group for clock hours (אחת, שתיים, שלוש) and another for dates. This prevents the familiar English habit of using one unchanged number form everywhere.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Numbers — provides the number forms needed for hours, minutes, dates, and years.