Asking and telling the time
The question is Mis kell on? (“What time is it?”). The answer: Kell on kolm. (“It’s three o’clock.”) For “at what time?”, put kell before the number: Mis kell sa tuled? — Kell kolm.
Halves and quarters count towards the next hour, as in German “halb drei”: pool kolm = 2:30, veerand kolm = 2:15, kolmveerand kolm = 2:45.
| Time | In Estonian | Literally |
|---|---|---|
| 2:00 | kell kaks | two o’clock |
| 2:15 | veerand kolm | a quarter of three |
| 2:30 | pool kolm | half of three |
| 2:45 | kolmveerand kolm | three quarters of three |
| 3:00 | kell kolm | three o’clock |
Parts of the day
Parts of the day answer “when?” and take the -l ending: hommikul — in the morning, päeval — in the daytime, õhtul — in the evening, öösel — at night.
They combine with täna, eile, homme: täna hommikul — this morning, eile õhtul — last night, homme päeval — tomorrow afternoon.
Examples
- Kell on pool üheksa.
- It’s half past eight (8:30).
- Tööpäev algab kell üheksa.
- The working day starts at nine.
- Buss tuleb kell veerand kuus.
- The bus comes at a quarter past five (5:15).
- Õhtul vaatan ma telerit.
- In the evening I watch TV.
- Eile öösel sadas lund.
- It snowed last night.
Common mistakes
- pool kolm is 2:30, not 3:30: the count goes towards the next hour.
- kell is clock time, tund is an hour of duration: Kell on kaks, but the film lasts kaks tundi.
- Mis kell on?, not “Mis aeg on?”: aeg is time in general (“Mul ei ole aega” — I have no time).