Telling time in Swahili

Time in Swahili

Standard Time	Swahili Time	Translation	Note
12:00 A.M.	6:00 at night	saa sita usiku	literally hour six night
3:00 P.M.	9:00 in the afternoon	saa tisa mchana
7:30 P.M.	1:30 in the evening	saa moja na nusu jioni	literally hour one and a half in the evening
1:05 P.M.	7:05 in the afternoon	saa saba na dakika tano mchana	literally hour seven and five minutes in the afternoon
A quarter to 8:00 A.M (7.45 A.M.)	A quarter to 2:00 in the morning	saa mbili kasorobo asubuhi	literally hour two less one quarter morning
Almost 11:00 A.M.	Almost 5:00 in the morning	saa tano kasoro asubuhi.	literally hour five less morning (Literally almost hour five)

Morning – asubuhi

Evening – jioni

Daytime – mchana

Nighttime – usiku

Hour – saa

Minute – dakika

O’clock – saa

Half past – unusu

AM – wakati wa asubuhi

PM – saa ya jioni

What time is it now? – Ni wakati gani sasa hivi? / Saa hii ni saa ngapi?

One o’clock – saa saba

Two o’clock – saa nane

Three o’clock – Saa tisa

Four o’clock – Saa kumi

Five o’clock – Saa kumi na moja

Six o’clock – saa kumi na mbili

Seven o’clock – saa moja

Eight o’clock – saa mbili

Nine o’clock – Saa tatu

Ten o’clock – saa nne

Eleven o’clock – saa tano

Twelve o’clock – saa sita

 

What is the time?  – Ni saa ngapi?

saa moja – 7 o’clock

saa mbili – 8 o’clock

saa tatu – 9 o’clock

saa nne – 10 o’clock

saa tano – 11 o’clock

saa sita – 12 o’clock

saa saba – 1 o’clock

saa nane – 2 o’clock

saa tisa – 3 o’clock

saa kumi – 4 o’clock

saa kumi na moja – 5 o’clock

saa kumi na mbili – 6 o’clock

 

asubuhi – morning – 6:00 a.m. to 11:59 a.m.

mchana – daytime – 12:00 p.m. to 4:59 p.m.

jioni – evening – 5:00 p.m. to 6:59 p.m.

usiku – night – 7:00 p.m. to 5:59 a.m.

 

11:00 a.m. – Saa tano asubuhi.

2:00 p.m. – Saa nane mchana.

5:00 p.m. – Saa kumi na moja jioni.

8:00 p.m. – Saa mbili usiku.

 

wakati wa alfajiri – dawn prayer time – between 5:45 a.m. to

6:30 a.m.

wakati wa adhuhuri – noon prayer time – between 12:00 p.m. to

12:45 p.m.

wakati wa alasiri – late afternoon prayer time – between 4:00

p.m. to 4:45 p.m.

wakati wa magharibi – late evening prayer time – between 6:30

p.m. to 7:15 p.m

 

The words for minute, quarter and half hour are listed below.

dakika – minute

robo – quarter (of an hour in this case)

nusu – half (of an hour in this case)

 

Minutes, quarters and half hours can be either added to the hour or

subtracted from the following hour using the words below:

na – and (used to add minutes, quarters and half hours to a whole

hour)

kasoro – less (used to subtract minutes and quarters from a whole

hour)

 

3:15 p.m. – Saa tisa na robo mchana.

9:55 a.m. – Saa nne kasoro dakika tano asubuhi. OR

Saa tatu na dakika hamsini na tano asubuhi.

12:21 a.m. – Saa sita na dakika ishirini na moja usiku.

11:45 p.m. – Saa sita kasorobo usiku. OR Saa tano na dakika arobaini na tano usiku.

The following words are used in connection with telling the time in Swahili.

Saa ngapi? – What time is it?

Saa ngapi sasa hivi? – What time is it right now?

kamili – exactly

kama – about

mpaka – until

tangu – since, from

karibu – near

baada ya – after

 

Saa kumi kamili mchana. – Exactly 4 p.m.

Ni kama saa kumi na mbili jioni. – It is about 6:00 p.m.

Alipika mpaka saa nane mchana. – He/She cooked until 2:00

p.m.

Alingoja tangu wakati wa adhuhuri. – He/She waited since the

time of noon prayers.

Ni karibu saa mbili asubuhi. – It is near (almost) 8:00 a.m.

Ni baada ya saa moja na nusu usiku. – It is after 7:30 p.m.

 

Lima shamba kwa muda wa saa tatu. – Cultivate the farm for a

period of three hours.

Lima shamba saa tatu. – Cultivate the farm at nine o’clock.

 

Muda wa robo saa. – A period of a quarter of an hour.

Muda wa nusu saa. – A period of half an hour.

Muda wa robo tatu ya saa. – A period of three quarters of an hour.

 

Muda wa dakika saba. – A period of seven minutes.

Muda wa saa nne na dakika ishirini. – A period of four hours

and twenty minutes.