Specifying the time of day İn Arabic – Arabic- Arabic Beginner Lesson 61 Learn Arabic Free Online
Specifying the time of day İn Arabic – Arabic- Arabic Beginner Lesson 61 Learn Arabic Free Online
Specifying the time of day
Because Arabic uses neither the a.m./p.m. system nor the 24-hour military
clock, when giving the time, you need to specify the time of day by actually
saying what part of the day it is.
Here are the different times of day you’re likely to use:
aS-SabaaH (ah-sah-bah; morning, or sunrise to 11:59 a.m.)
aDH-DHuhr (ah-zoo-her; noon, or 12:00 p.m.)
ba’da aDH-DHuhr (bah-dah ah-zoo-her; afternoon, or 12:01 p.m.
to 4:00 p.m.)
al-‘asr (al-ah-ser; late afternoon, or 4:01 p.m. to sunset)
al-masaa’ (al-mah-sah; evening, or sunset to two hours after sunset)
al-layl (ah-lah-yel; night, or sunset to two hours to sunrise)
For example, if the time is 2:00 p.m., then you attach ba’da aDH-DHuhr to the
proper ordinal. If sunset is at 6:00 p.m. and you want to say the time’s 7:00 p.m.,
then you use al-masaa’ and the ordinal because al-masaa’ applies to the twohour
period right after sunset; if sunset is at 6:00 p.m. and you want to say the
time’s 9:00 p.m., then you use al-layl and the ordinal because 9:00 p.m. falls
outside the scope of the evening convention (see the preceding list).
The convention used to specify the part of the day is fairly straightforward:
as-saa’a + ordinal number + fii (fee; in) + part of the day
So when someone asks you kam as-saa’a, your literal reply in Arabic is “It’s
the ninth hour in the morning,” for instance. The following are some examples
to better illustrate responses to the question kam as-saa’?:
as-saa’a al-waaHida fii ba’da aDH-DHuhr. (ah-sah-ah al-wah-hee-dah fee
bah-dah ah-zoo-her; It’s 1:00 in the afternoon.)
as-saa’a al-khaamisa fii al-‘asr. (ah-sah-ah al-kah-mee-sah fee al-ah-ser; It’s
5:00 in the late afternoon.)
as-saa’a al-Haadiya ‘ashra fii aS-SabaaH. (ah-sah-ah al-hah-dee-yah
ah-shrah fee ah-sah-bah; It’s 11:00 in the morning.)
as-saa’a at-taasi’a fii al-layl. (ah-sah-ah ah-tah-see-ah fee ah-lah-yel; It’s
9:00 in [at] night.)
as-saa’a as-saabi’a fii al-masaa’. (ah-sah-ah ah-sah-bee-ah fee al-mah-sah;
It’s 7:00 in the evening.)