Chapter 12 – Useful Vocabulary:
Date and Time

One of the primary steps on learning a new language is gaining knowledge on how measurements of time are expressed using that particular knowledge. In the social context, this is important since you cannot successful set and carry out activities without dealing with proper planning and schedules.

Days of the Week

To start, here are the days of the week in Italian along with their corresponding pronunciation and abbreviation. Take note that Italians do not capitalize the first letter of the days or months, unlike in the English language.

Days	Pronunciation	Translation
domenica	doh-me -nee-kah	Sunday
lunedi	looh-neh-dee	Monday
martedi	mahr-the-dee	Tuesday
mercoledi	mehr-koh-leh-dee	Wednesday
giovedi	joh-veh-dee	Thursday
venerdi	veh-nehr-dee	Friday
sabato	sah -bah-toh	Saturday

Here is a list of other day-related terms that would prove to be useful for you:

• “today”
  • “oggi” (oj-jee)
• “yesterday”
  • “ieri” (yeh-ree)
• “the day before yesterday”
  • “l’altro ieri” (lahl -troh yeh -ree)
• “tomorrow”
  • “domani” (doh-mah -nee)
• “day after tomorrow”
  • “dopomani” (doh-poh-mah -nee)

Months and Years

Now that you are familiar with the days of the week in Italian, it is time to proceed to months and years. The Italians follow the Gregorian calendar, which is widely used in the Western civilization. However, unlike in the English language, the first letter of each month does not have to capitalized, similar to how the Italians write the days of the week.

The table below shows how to say and write each month of the year.

Months	Pronunciation	Translation
gennaio	gehn-nahy -oh	January
febbraio	fehb-brahy -oh	February
marzo	mahr -tsoh	March
aprile	ah-pree -leh	April
maggio	mahj -joh	May
giugno	jooh -nyoh	June
luglio	looh -lyoh	July
agosto	ah-gohs -toh	August
settembre	seht-tehm -breh	September
ottobre	oht-toh -breh	October
novembre	noh-vehm -breh	November
dicembre	dee-chehm -breh	December

Constructing Dates

The most noticeable difference between the English and Italians way of saying the date is on the order of the day, month, and year. Many English speakers say the date as “January 10, 2019”, wherein the month comes first before the day and the year. On the contrary, the Italians follow this format for their dates: day + month +year. For example, the translation of “January 10, 2019” into Italian goes like this: “10 gennaio 2019” or “dieci gennaio duemiladiciannove” (dyeh -chee gehn-nahy -oh dooh -eh-mee -lah-dee-chahn-noh -veh).

Now that you know how to construct dates in Italian, here are some useful expressions that you could memorize in order to ask for the date or to correctly respond to such questions:

• If you want to ask for the date of that particular day, or simply what day of the week it is:
  • “Che giorno è oggi?”
    • Pronunciation: keh johr -noh eh ohj -jee
    • Translation: “What is the date today?” or “What day is today?”
  • “Quanto ne abbiamo oggi?”
    • Pronunciation: kwahn -toh neh ahb -byah-moh ohj -jee
    • Translation: “What is today’s date?”
• You can respond to the questions above by using either of the following sentence structures: “è” (“it is”) + “il” (“the”) + day + month + year (only if necessary). For example:
  • “Oggi è il dieci gennaio duemiladiciannove.”
    • Pronunciation: ohj -jee eh dyeh -chee gehn-nahy -oh dooh -eh-mee -lah-dee-chahn-noh -veh
    • Translation: “Today is January 10, 2019.”
• If you ask when an activity is going to happen, use the Italian word for “when”, which is “quando” (kwahn-doh). Here is a sample sentence that you can practice on:
  • “Quando parti per la Spagna?”
    • Pronunciation: kwahn -doh pahr -tee pehr lah spah -nyah
    • Translation: “When are you leaving for Spain?”
• An appropriate response for the question above is:
  • “Parto l’8 febbraio.”
    • Pronunciation: pahr -toh loht -toh fehb-bray -oh
    • Translation: “I am leaving on February 8th .”
• If you want to ask when someone’s birthday is:
  • “Quando sei nato?”
    • Pronunciation: kwahn -doh sey nah -toh
    • Translation: “When were you born?” (masculine form)
  • “Quando sei nata?”
    • Pronunciation: kwahn -doh sey nah -tah
    • Translation: “When were you born?” (feminine form)
• You can respond to such a question by saying:
  • “Sono nato/a il sedici agosto millenovecentonovantatre”
    • Pronunciation: soh -noh nah -toh/tah eel seh -dee-chee ah-gohs -toh meehl -leh-noh -veh-sehn -toh-noh-vahn -tah-tre
    • Translation: “I was born in August 16, 1993.”

Telling the Time

Here are key pointers on how to speak and write the time in Italian:

• The Italians use the 24-hour clock system—or also referred to as the military time. This is most apparent in their schedules for transportation, events, and even in the theaters.

If you are not familiar with military time, here are the basic information that you should know.

• The hours from midnight to noon are the same for the 12-hour clock system and the military time.
• However, from 1:00 P.M. up to 12:59 P.M., the number used to indicate the “hour” becomes “13” and the abbreviation “P.M.” is entirely dropped. For example:
  • “13:00” or “le tredici”

❖         Pronunciation: leh treh -dee-chee

❖         Translation: “1:oo P.M.” or “one o’clock in the afternoon”

• “17:22” or “le diciasette e ventidue”

❖         Pronunciation: leh dee -chahs-seht-teh eh vehn -tee-doo -eh

❖         Translation: “5:23 P.M.” or “five fifty-three in the evening”

• If the time of day is still not clear even when you use the military time format, then you can add the following phrases after stating the time:
  • “di mattina”
    • Pronunciation: dee maht-tee -nah
    • Translation: “in the morning”
  • “di pomeriggio”
    • Pronunciation: dee poh-meh-reej -joh
    • Translation: “in the afternoon
  • “di sera”
    • Pronunciation: dee seh-rah
    • Translation: “in the evening”
• There are three ways to ask for the time. You can use the first two interchangeably, while the third one is considered as the politest way of the three.
  • “Che ora è?”
    • Pronunciation: keh oh -rah eh
    • Translation: “What time is it?”
  • “Che ore sono?”
    • Pronunciation: keh oh -reh soh -noh
    • Translation: “What time is it?”
  • Scusi, mi può dire l’ora, per favore?”
    • Pronunciation: “skooh -zee mee pwoh dee -reh loh -rah pehr fah-voh -reh
    • Translation: “Excuse me, can you please tell me the time?”
• The correct response to someone asking for the time varies depending on the singularity or plurality of the given hour.
• If the given hour is in its singular form, then your answer should include a verb in its singular form as well. For example:
  • “È mezzanotte.”
    • Pronunciation: eh mehdz -ah-noht -teh
    • Translation: “It is midnight.”
  • “E l’una di mattina.”
    • Pronunciation: eh looh -nah dee maht-tee -na
    • Translation: “It is one o’clock in the morning.”
• On the other hand, if the given hour is plural, or more than “one”, switch the verb you are using to “sono” (soh -noh), which literally means “they are” in English. For instance:
  • “Sono le tre.”
    • Pronunciation: soh -noh leh treh
    • Translation: “It is three o’clock.”
  • “Sono le diciotto.”
    • Pronunciation: soh -noh leh deech-oht -toh
    • Translation: “It is eight o’clock.”
• Here are some more time-related terms that could be useful for you:
  • “e un quarto”
    • Pronunciation: eh oohn kwahr -toh
    • Translation: “a quarter past”
  • “e mezzo”
    • Pronunciation: eh mehdz -oh
    • Translation: “half past”
  • “e tre quarti”
    • Pronunciation: eh treh kwahr -tee
    • Translation: “three-quarters past”
  • “e tredici”
    • Pronunciation: eh treh-dee -chee
    • Translation: “thirteen past”
• When it comes to the actual time when something would begin, use the preposition “a” (ah) for both the question itself and the corresponding answer. For example:
  • “A che ora inizia la partita?”
    • Pronunciation: ah keh oh-rah ee-neets -see-yah-lah pahr-tee -tah
    • Translation: “What time is the game going to begin?” or “What time does the game begin?”

Here are some sample responses to this question. Take note of the different forms that the preposition “a” can take, depending on the beginning of the word that follows.

• “Alle dieci.”
  • Pronunciation: ahl -leh dyeh -chee
  • Translation: “At ten o’clock.”

• “All’una di pomeriggio.”
  • Pronunciation: ahl-looh -nah dee poh-meh-reej -joh
  • Translation: “At one in the afternoon.”
• “A mezzorigiorno.”
  • Pronunciation: ah medz-zoh -johr-noh
  • Translation: “At noon.”

Exercise

Translate the following dates and time into Italian:

1. “August 16, 1993”
2. “January 10, 2019”
3. “Wednesday”
4. “at ten o’clock”
5. “in the evening”

Answer Key:

1. 16 agosto 1993/sedici agosto millenovecentonovantatre
2. 10 gennaio 2019/dieci gennaio duemiladiciannove
3. mercoledi
4. alle dieci
5. di sera