Why some Germans can't tell each other the time

[@DontTrustTheRabbit]

Was sagt ihr? "Viertel nach elf" oder "Viertel zwölf"? What do you say? "Viertel nach elf" or "Viertel zwölf"?

[@kaitan4160]

Viertel zwölf ofc. I dont need to go back and forth on the hours. And ofc the whole dialekt thing .... too many times i heard the "viertel nach elf" in such an heavy dialekt tha tthe "nach" was just not understandable. Resulting in an high because soon there is Feierabend/Break or any reason to stop working just to realize that i have still work to do which ofc resulted in an quite low work mood.

[@ChildOfLight13]

Viertel nach elf

[@dansattah]

Ich glaube, dass ich beide Varianten verwende. In Dresden und Stralsund bin ich aufgewachsen, weswegen ich "Dreiviertel eins" mehr gewohnt bin.

[@barbarakompatscher5791]

Viertel nach Zwölf und dreiviertel zwölf... so a mix of both (Southtryol)

[@charlylotte4924]

Bei mir kommt es drauf an wer da vor mir sitzt Ich bin mit beidem aufgewachsen Wenn ich mir unsicher bin ob der andere Viertel und dreiviertel versteht nutze ich irgendwas anderes ansonsten das

[@JamesCasatelli]

So the moral of the story: If you're in Germany, make sure your watch has a fresh battery.

[@liamweaver2944]

Or keep your cell phone with you. But duly noted. I’ll be in Bavaria and Austria this Christmas.

[@haloplayeroflegend2515]

Or just bring Trixie

[@swastiknag9220]

As batteries in Germany is expensive, also keep 2-3 spare fresh ones🤣🤣

[@simonthomsen8578]

Ich bin dänisch und versuche mein deutsch zu verbessern - und deine videos haben mir dabei sehr geholfen! Ich habe viele von deinen Videos geschaut und ich bin sehr froh dass du wieder da bist, süß und liebenswürdig wie eh und je!

[@MadNumForce]

I'm curious how the Danish language is dealing with telling the time, since you have such a convolute number system in the first place. Is Danish team 1, team 2, or is it something completely different?

[@simonthomsen8578]

​@@MadNumForce Danish is team 1 - "a quarter past..." is called "kvart over...," meaning "a quarter over...". "Kvart i..." means "a quarter to..." just like in english (although "i" actually means "in," which is a bit weird). So this part of danish isn't that complicated:)

[@herrmeistermann2426]

@@MadNumForce The most confusing thing about danish times is perhaps that most danes will write 16.15, but say quarter past 4. From context of the conversation the listener should be able to tell if the speaker means morning of afternoon.

[@kuessebrama]

@@herrmeistermann2426 how is this specificly confusing about danish? In Germany we to say "viertel nach 4" so "quarter past 4" to 16:15, because "quarter past 16", or sixteen fifteen. Normaly you know wich time it is, i mean if i want to chill with a friend for example and i say "lets meet at quarter past 4" he will know that i mean 16:15 and not 04:15 because it would not make sense. If it could be both and it is not clear we just say 16:15 or "four fifteen in the evening/morning". So you always know what time is meant because it does not make any sense if you want to hang out at 4 A.M. for example, if you meant 4:15 am you would just say it.

[@herrmeistermann2426]

@@kuessebrama LOL. That is exactly my point. The most confusing thing is not very confusing at all.

[@stephanteuscher6583]

I am from the dreiviertel-department in Baden and we understand the viertel-vor-weirdos as well! Same with the dialects: we understand (almost) everything, they don't understand anything (coming from us). So we are always the ones who have to bend over backwards to explain them in High German and in Viertel-Vor-Language what we are talking about. Thank god we are multilingual. =;-)

[@vimsi]

so isses :D

[@samsamuels8328]

I speak Yiddish and for example we say: "Viertel noch Zwelf" for 12:15 and "viertel zu zwelf" for 11:45. I love to compare Yiddish and German, it is very interesting to see the differences in grammar and pronunciation (as you can see in my example here).

[@LauraMorland]

If I'm not wrong in translating your Yiddish, that's how we describe it in (American) English as well: "It's a quarter after twelve," and "It's a quarter to twelve."

[@samsamuels8328]

@@LauraMorland Exactly 👍

[@rogink]

@@LauraMorland Do Americans really say "a quarter after..." I had no idea - in UK I'm pretty sure everyone would say "a quarter past...". This seems to roll off the tongue easier. We do say "a quarter to ..." of course. And although we might say it's 'half twelve' if we're in a hurry, we actually mean 'half past twelve' - i.e. 12.30

[@pikewerfer]

Being a military person, I usually simply use the digital time - so I would say eleven forty-five when describing 11:45. It also makes am and pm unnecessary.

[@dominicmcgladdery9567]

I teach German here in the UK and always teach the “Viertel for zwölf” way, mainly because it is a direct translation into English. My students struggle with “halb zwölf” as in English “half twelve” is commonly used to mean 12:30.

[@LauraMorland]

I'm American, and I struggle with the English/Irish "half twelve" too! ;-)

[@vorrnth8734]

What the heck is the logic behind that. In german halb zwölf means half of the 12th hour has passed aka 11:30. How do you get to 12:30?

[@tommay6590]

@@vorrnth8734 because original it is „half past twelve“; and then shortened. I guess the same happens in German...

[@BiBaBeluBaB]

this is where i got problems learning english. halb 12 = 1130 = half past 11

[@vorrnth8734]

@@tommay6590 No halb 12 is not shortened. It is the same logic as Viertel 12.

[@feuerbachagainstthemachine9238]

I love your channel so much. I love German so much.

[@acefox1]

Loved this video and loved your freakout over aging in your example. You rock. Cheers from Seattle!

[@butziporsche8646]

Ah, the lovely and missing Trixi.

[@joshuddin897]

With a pair of smashing eyes

[@daleburrell6273]

@@joshuddin897 ...YOU BETCHER LIFESAVERS-!!

[@KajimaTV]

I actually expierenced this first hand over the last couple of months. I was born and raised in northern Hesse and moved to Thuringia to go to uni. And a lot of my friends, I met here, tell the time different than I do. I was so confused, when one of my friends sayed she's taking the bus at "viertel vier" and I was like "what?, when?". It was super hilarious and by now I'm kinda used to it, but I don't tell the time different now, just because all the others do it. (Just sometimes to mess with them :P) I actually met someone who lived half an hour away from my hometown and she sayed it different then me as well. (She lived just across the border to Thuringia.)

[@BCSchmerker]

+LetsPlayMateus05 *"Viertel vier" translates to "the first quarter of the fourth hour."* Daytime, I'd half-expect "viertel sechſzehn" (the first quarter of the _sixteenth_ hour).

[@electrictroy2010]

We Americans stopped using round clocks. We only speak digital: 11:45. Even if we see an elderly round clock, we still read the hour & minutes .

[@MusikCassette]

If you do use there system to mess with them, please don't stopp at quaters. Use 3rds ant 6th and perhaps even 12th.

[@Luv2tickt]

It was great to see you back at it! My first time in Germany, about fifteen years back, as I traveled the country, I noticed this "oddity." It was just another bit of learning I had to do!

[@user-David-Alan]

Great hearing from you again. Your feed has not been popping up. Your English seems perfect. Thanks for the video and stay well.

[@ΑθανάσιοςΚΥΡΙΑΚΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ-θ7γ]

As a Greek learning German I also thought 13.35 being five after halftwo and 09.25 being five before halften was really crazy and original!!! The best thing is when you translate German sentences straight into English: Sadly have I no money more, because I today all my money in the mall spent have. German: a language of the mad genius!!! Lol!!!😜😂🤓🤗❤️

[@butziporsche8646]

Glad you[re back Trixi. We all missed you.

[@igorscot4971]

You should not be anxious about growing older, you should be anxious about not growing older!

[@Renne78]

This split continues also in Austria, where there is the "viertel"- and the "viertel üwa"-zone (viertel nach). Somewhere in the midwestern parts (especially in Upper Austria and Salzburg) it's similar to Bavaria. But in the west and east, and I think also in the south, we are in the blue zone. Viertel means here exactly f.e. Viertel 12 (11:15) or for some hillbillies viertel über 12 (12:15).

[@farnregen]

And here I am. I don't understand both and ask always what time it is exactly

[@tasminoben686]

Moin, schön dass du wieder da bist! Freue mich! Schönes Video!

[@bernhardkirchner5447]

Curiously, or funnily to borrow your word, my German parents used both to describe the ¼ hours, then would refer to the smaller number when describing a different number on either side of the ½ hour mark, i.e, "20 vor 12" or "10 nach 8" or even give the exact hour / minute i.e. 8:20 " 8 Uhr 20" and add "morgens/abends" if not using the 24hr/military system

[@starkraft2506]

I've been learning the team 2 way in my German course. Makes me crazy. Glad half the country apparently has their head on straight after all.

[@DontTrustTheRabbit]

It's so crazy to imagine that you are learning something in your German course that I - a German - would have trouble understanding. 😅🤯

[@huawafabe]

but the team 2 way is very logical and consistent :(

[@philipkudrna5643]

What is „straight“ with „Viertel über“ or „Viertel nach“? This is inconsistent (especially when you accept „halb 12“). I can only imagine that this somewhat relates to occupation zones, with zones of US or British occupation still using the „English“ way for time identification? Just guessing...

[@huawafabe]

@@philipkudrna5643 I think the consistency of 'Viertel nach' is that you refer to the closest full hour, not to the next. And 'halb 12' is shorter than 'halb nach 12'. I don't think it's an occupation thing, that was the same before ww2

[@danielkaczynski9702]

My Gawd! Where are you taking this course and who is the Dummkopf teaching it??

[@annakosarova882]

I'm Czech and in Czech we say Viertel zwölf. But in German classes at school we learn Viertel nach elf as the "correct" way to tell time in German. So I guess I would be able to understand both.

[@MrFusselig]

I'm German, I learned about the "Viertel Zwölf" way of telling the time when I was in conscription service in the Bundeswehr, meeting Soldiers from eastern Germany leading to confusion in what time they were speaking about. Now I live in Prague, learning Czech, and the Czech way of telling the time sounds somewhat familiar to me because of this reason. I'm not sure if German influenced the Czech way of telling the time, of if even Czech influenced a part of the German way of telling the time.

[@mistermarch533]

Schön das du wieder da bist

[@SongSprite]

Hi Trixie! I stumbled upon your videos while doing research for my d&d character because I want to give her a German accent, and I want to say first of all that you are ADORABLE and I love the way you laugh at yourself in your videos, and secondly I think your accent is beautiful and I am going to try to imitate it for my character. It's exactly what I was looking for because it's nice and gentle without the really heavy characteristics like w->v, more a melody of phrasing than anything else, but still recognizeable as having a German influence.

[@josepht.7937]

Hey Trixie! It's good to see you. You look well. I see that you still have your great comedic timing. I miss that, and appreciate that, as well. 😂💝

[@electrictroy2010]

Americans stopped using round clocks. We only speak digital: 11:45. Even if we see an elderly round clock, we still read the hour & minutes .

[@gustavoelizalde5182]

Happy to see you again. I really like watching and hearing you.

[@marsdaguerre4883]

"Now who says what and why?" DontTrustTheRabbit in a nutshell.

[@erkhembayaraa1218]

Rabit is back!

[@jbkhan1135]

So glad to see you back!!

[@TheOneG36]

i totally aggree to your diagonal line my couseins from the "oberpfalz" in northern bavaria say it like that while iam in munich say it like the green chart :)

[@derwolf9670]

The only thing about time that you really have to remember in Germany: No matter how early you arrive...your German friend will think you are late

[@SidMaron]

🤭 I'm always late.

[@Rob901]

Thanks for posting . Nice to see you

[@FatalBurnz]

I'm from england and in school I was taught "viertel nach elf" and "Viertel vor zwölf", probably because either it's closer in speech pattern to the english equivalent or because we're closer geographically to the part of Germany that uses it

[@jonathanfinan722]

My grandmother who was born in West Yorkshire, UK, 98 years ago would say the time in a very German way but only at a very specific time within the hour. If it was, for instance, 0925 she would say it was "5 and 20 past 9". Similarly, 0935 would be "5 and 20 to 10". She only ever did this with the number 25, nothing else.

[@phillipsofthedriver]

I'm guessing this is a hold-over from a particular invasion and conquest of Britain.

[@PoolOfTrees]

English used to, long ago, use German-style counting, as is still remembered in the nursery-rhyme line "Four and twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie", although I'm surprised that form of numbering was still being used in your grandmother's time.

[@mrscary3105]

I have missed you!

[@ArnoldTohtFan]

I've missed her epic rack

[@MorliHolect]

With every bullet? (Al Bundy's joke)

[@markseare9274]

Wie geht's dir? Es ist schön dir wieder zu sehen. Ich stelle mich vor, daß du ganz beschäftigt bist. Junge Mütter haben kaum die Zeit videos zu machen. Wie geht es deiner Kinder? deines Mannes? Ich wünche dir und deiner alles gute. Übrigens, ich bin Amerikaner. Vor viertzig Jahren lebte ich in der Schweiz für anderthalb Jahren. Ich erinnere mich nicht welches „Team" die Schweizern angehören. Ich schaue deiner Videos an, damit ich meine Deutsch gut behalten kann.

[@cmdrandreyuenari4150]

Ich sehe Deine Videos übrigens schon seit Jahren und finde sie sehr unterhaltsam. Vielen Dank für die tolle Arbeit! 😊

[@matthiasmoneke6004]

Hi Trixi! As usual this is a great video with a very interesting topic! I'm from the very south of Germany's north, Lower Saxony's southern end. Growing up learning the clock the analogue way as it looks like I'm in the Viertel-Halb-Dreiviertel-Team. But I actually find both variants logical and understand both. I think it's less a matter of region than a matter of growing up with either one or the other. In a nutshell I find none of the two ways of telling what time it is better or worse. But of course in both factions there will always be people claiming to be members of the only one true best team. I think that has nothing to do with time but with social bias and compensating for self-confidence issues. 8)

[@markbernier8947]

I'm on Team 1 ---- I learned my German in Hanau long before the Internet --- I love Trixi teaching us about German dialects ---- my grandmother was born in Lemburg, Austria-Hungary (today Lviv, Ukraine) and she spoke a very harsh, spiky German that was totally different than the "round/bouncy" Hessen dialect I was used to

[@GeneralWeir]

Kategorie 2 ist doch vollkommen logisch und geht, vermute ich, darauf zurück wie die Zeit gemessen wurde, bevor es Uhren gab. Wenn wir zb. nach China schauen, wurde da die Zeit darüber gemessen, wie voll Gefäse mit Wasser gefüllt waren und das war halt 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, voll und dann auskippen ins Nächste usw... wie gesagt, völlig logisch^^

[@Foggotme8823]

I usually just say the time in digits. For example 13:45 I say Dreizehn Uhr Fünfundvierzig. I always have to think a minute about what others mean. Regardless if its Viertel vor oder Dreiviertel (nach) Eins.

[@LiebeNachDland]

That’s very interesting to know that there are some regional differences there. I’ll try to use what is more likely to be said when in the north there in Hamburg. So, I will focus on the words “nach,” “halb” and “vor,” which is what I already mainly did. Es kommt mir fast so vor, dass ich wieder ein deutscher Anfänger bin, was jetzt schon vor 4 intensiven Jahren war. Ich meine, Du lässt mich über die Dinge nachdenken, die ich zuerst gelernt hab. Dafür feiere ich dich durch diese kurzen, komischen und lustigen Videos.

[@ukraineball_de5954]

Das leben ist schon ein krasser zufall! Ich habe letzte woche rechachiert wie die Thüringische zeit ist weil obwohl ich Thüringer bin verstehe ich nur die west-deutsche zeit oder halt die von einer Digital uhr . Ich habe aber nicht gefunden wie es richtig in dem einen oder dem anderen dialekt ist und zack lädst du eine video hoch mit genau dem was ich suche! Ich muss die art die uhr zu lesen noch lernen aber ich weis wo ich nachgucken kann. Vielen dank.

[@simonlavelle5572]

Hello from Australia 😊

[@toomdog]

Your US accent was incredibly genuine when you were fretting about your age! In response to your video, my Deutschlehrer taught us both ways to say the time.

[@marklittlehale5756]

Glad you're back!

[@Cadfael007]

In the company I worked from 7-11 o'clock we said "Moin" and from 11-1 o''clock we said "Mahlzeit, followed by "Tach"...

[@philipohmes9395]

I never actually noticed this difference directly for all of the years I lived in Germany. It may be that I just simply learned both styles and accepted them as such. The way I say the times is to the minute, after the hour. So it is 15 minutes after Noon or 17 minutes before Noon or 37 minutes after 6 PM or 18:37. Sort of the way the Rail Road or Bus Time Tables are listed. That way there are few if any misunderstandings. Since I wear a digital chronometer I often show the watch to the person so that they can tell the time for themselves.

[@andr_sh]

That's cool you are back. I've always been in love with you.

[@janini1232]

This might be just because I grew up in fraction one, but I feel like usually everybody can understand „Viertel vor“ and „Viertel nach“ (even the people that say it differently would understand) but not the other way around. I struggled for a while to understand that „Viertel 12“ is actually way closer to 11 o‘clock, but now after a couple years of practice I am confident to be able to understand any time no matter which way it‘s said.

[@Richard_GIS]

So in Austria only in Vienna, Lower Austria and Carinthia, they are team 2, the others are team 1, considering Salzburg is close to Germany, Munich, it fits. Fun fact, I missed an appointment already because when a Vienna residents says 'Viertel 11' i came at 11:15 but he ment 10:15. Honestly, all that goes to the half should be pronounced with after the full hour, and after the half, say before the next hour - no one is missunderstanding this info, but 'viertel something' can misslead

[@vimsi]

in Österreich sagt man auch Dreiviertel Zwölf! UND: Team 2 kann team 1 immer verstehen, nur Team 1 stellt sich zu doof an, team 2 zu verstehen :P

[@tuttman1234]

Thanks for the amazing video. Very entertaining and informative!

[@geraldglaubitz9551]

Gefällt mir, wie Du dies erklärst.

[@FrankJKontz]

Ich wohne in der Zeitzone "Viertel nach elf" und hatte/habe immer noch Probleme mit der anderen Zeitzone in Deutschland, also der "Viertel zwölf-Hemisphäre". Ich habe mir das wie folgt gemerkt. Bei "Viertel nach elf" ist die Präposition "nach" mit drin. Bei "Viertel zwölf" fehlt die Präposition. Also nun muss sie ergänzt werden und zwar durch "von". Daher heißt es gedanklich bei mir "Viertel von zwölf"; also ein Viertel von einem 12er-Zeitkuchen.

[@ElReyXIX]

Hallo Trixi, Ich finde sehr cool, dass du dieses deutsche Phänomen mal thematisiert hast, denn auch ich habe damit schon so meine Erfahrungen gemacht. Ich bin Team 2 da ich auf deiner Abbildung sehr zentral im blauen Bereich lebe. Witzig ist, dass ich seit eh und je Team 1 verstanden habe. Das gleiche gilt für mein gesamtes Umfeld. Wir sagen viertel 12, aber wir verstehen, wenn jemand viertel nach 11 sagt. Der gegenüber ist meist der, der verwirrt ist. Deswegen hat sich bei uns sehr starkes Unverständnis darüber ausgebreitet, warum das den “Wessis“ so schwer fällt. XD

[@Seegalgalguntijak]

And then there's also the "zehn nach halb" / "zehn vor halb" vs the "zwanzig vor" / "zwanzig nach" fractions. We all try to coexist peacefully though, and that's what's important about it. Understanding both systems isn't as hard any more, as it was in the grey past where much more happened unconsciously (which was only a few decades ago) ;-)

[@garymcgregor5951]

Yay! So good to see you again!

[@ZeldaWolf2000]

I didn't know there were two ways of telling time in Germany. I only learned team ones in school, so this was neat. Thankfully, in English, at least where I'm from, we kind of use both, depending on what the time is. The hours usually determined by which our work closest to, so if it's 11:45 Will say a 11:45, but if it's 11:15 We'll say 11:15, or just 11:15. Thanks for this video. It was really interesting. I think both makes sense, although they would take me some more getting used to, because I don't use them that much, but I understand both.

[@bella3636]

That's so true 😂 I live close to Cologne and I'm part of team 1. For example "Viertel vor neun " my great aunt who lives close to Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg said "it's not getting dark till dreiviertel neun" I was so confused 😕 and didn't know if she meant to say "Viertel vor 8" or what it meant.. Although I have known her growing up etc and we've talked about the differences so many times I just can't remember it. Everytime I'm just as confused as the first time. 🙈

[@gauravmitra150]

Consider this time: 0:01 (or 12:01 which is the same on an analog clock). This means one minute has past within the first hour of the (calendar day). Now, at 0:15 a quarter hour of the first hour of the day has passed, so "viertel eins" (quarter one). At 0:30 it's "halb eins" (half one) and at 0:45 three quarters of the first hour has been passed, therefore "dreiviertel eins". I can imagine that this way of conveying time comes from a time (pun not intended) when the exact minute of the hour of the day was less important than the hour of the day. There is a clocktower in Graz (a beautiful city in Austria) in an elevated position. It's hour hand is the larger one and the minute hand is the smaller one, so the current hour is more easily visible from the distance.

[@TomMarvan]

Czech is in the team 2 camp. It can be very confusing. (On a side note, in high school when we learned as English speakers how to say “What time is it?” in German as “Wieviel Uhr ist es?” our teacher warned us not to say, “Was ist die Zeit?” as this may be more of philosophical question - “What is time?”) Still, the question remains, where has Trixi been all this time. Is the answer philosophical?

[@Erik_Emer]

Iceland can use either system, but it's usually more of a system of once it becomes xx:31, use the next hour. Hún er tíu mínútur yfir sjö = It's 7:10 (It's 10 minutes after 7) Hún er tuttugu og níu mínútur í átta = It's 7:31 (It's 29 minutes before 8, it'll be 29 more minutes until we get to 8)

[@afz902k]

Hi, nice content. Could you make a video about how Germans see each other and what expectations they have towards themselves and their environment? Are they judgemental, are they precise, are they driven, are they efficient and structured, and do they expect all these things from people around them? Thanks for reading.

[@fuchsadler]

I actually use both, depending on the people I'm talking to. But the "dreiviertel" one only came around me a few months ago and I personally - after someone explained the logic of that to me - find that one more logical but since I'm living in a part of Germany where most people use "viertel vor" I'm using that more often in conversation, so they are able to understand me

[@ameliab324]

In my language, we almost always use the first construction, like 'It's 15 minutes after 11'. Still, when it's for example 11:30, we say 'It's a half 'till 12' or sth like that. Soo, I would generally understand the first team better, but still, the second version doesn't sound very complicated.

[@Micha-fu5wq]

Oh schön , ein neues Video , gleich mal rein kucken !🤗😊 Have a great Sunday !☝

[@DontTrustTheRabbit]

Gute Idee! :-) Happy Sunday!

[@runm4n]

really confusing stuff 😂 🤣 So I'm from Southtyrol (the german speaking part of Italy on the border to Austria and Switzerland) and here we use a mix of both, we say "Viertel nach elf" for 11:15 and "Dreiviertel zwölf" for 11:45. Makes sense to me cause we refer to the full hour that's closest 😋

[@TheEdgarMueller]

Als Hamburger bin ich ausnahmsweise mal bei den Hannoveranern, der Hauptstadt des Wahnsinns. Aber ist das Bild nicht noch etwas komplexer? 7:03 = drei ab sieben/drei nach sieben/sieben Uhr drei, 7:25 = fünf vor halb acht/sieben Uhr fündunzwanzig, 7:45 = dreivertel acht, aber 7:47 = deizehn vor acht, manche bleiben immer ungenau, während anderen immer ganz genau die Uhrzeit sagen, ...

[@aleksandarmitic54]

Wellcome back, Trixi!

[@mspanhaak]

When I was a consultant hired by a German company, people you would meet passing in a hallway in the office would say Mahlzeit at 10:30.... and I was totally confused about it... Because it was nowhere around lunch right? :-)

[@johannesbockler8762]

Guten Morgen Trixi sehr gutes Video.

[@DontTrustTheRabbit]

Guten Morgen! Dankeschön! :-)

[@johannesbockler8762]

@@DontTrustTheRabbit ich hab genau damit was du da erwähnst Manchmal so meine Probleme.

[@amon_san]

i sort of understand both even though it took me a while to get the hang of the viertel and dreiviertel system. what really gets me is that brits say "at half twelve" and mean 12:30 (halb eins)

[@LauraMorland]

Me, too -- and I'm American!

[@robsierra516]

Thanks for sharing, see you next Time😉

[@kelvinize]

Look who is back

[@bigscarysteve]

Another KZbinr put up a similar video a few months ago, but he talked about telling time in a lot of languages, not just German (although he did mention this). I made some comments on his video about telling time in English, and I was attacked by other commenters saying I don't know how to tell time in English--me, a native English speaker!

[@agme8045]

And how do you tell time in “your” English?

[@bigscarysteve]

@@agme8045 The traditonal way, e. g. 12:15 = a quarter past twelve, 12:30 = half past twelve, 12:45 = a quarter to one. The people attacking me were younger viewers (I'm assuming) who'd never seen a clock like the one Trixie's holding here. All they'd ever known were clocks with digital displays. Instead of simply telling me that that's not the way they say it (which I would believe), they all dogpiled me and said that nobody in the history of the English language has ever said it that way. Give me a break. Their behavior proves that ignorance and arrogance go hand in hand.

[@benjidoesthings1175]

@@bigscarysteve I'm from Germany and I have been learning English for about six years or something. But I learned the time exactly as you said it. How else could you do it?

[@bigscarysteve]

@@benjidoesthings1175 For 12:15 you could say "twelve fifteen," for 12:30 you could say "twelve thirty," and for 12:45 you could say "twelve forty-five." This way of saying it is not incorrect, and I'm sure that it was sometimes said that way before the advent of digital clocks, but that would have been a bit unusual. The way I said it in my previous post sounds more elegant. I remember when digital clocks and watches made their first appearance. An older person would ask, "What time is it?" and a younger person would answer, "twelve fifteen." The older person would look puzzled and ask, "WHAT? Do you mean a quarter past twelve?" As for my antipathy toward the people who want to contradict me, all I can say is that they're mightily ignorant. I suppose the blame for their ignorance should fall on their teachers and parents, but the blame for their stubborn insistence on perpetuating their ignorance lies with them.

[@benjidoesthings1175]

@@bigscarysteve Ohh, yeah that makes sense. The other version (e.g twelve fifteen) is fairly more simple, but it's not that hard to say quarter past twelve. And I think you're right - it does sound more elegant. In the end, I don't think that's a matter you have to fight over. As long as everyone understands each other I don't see a problem.

[@julianbruskowski8174]

I actually was a member of both teams until a few years ago, so I said "Viertel nach 11" and "dreiviertel 12"

[@malataur]

Logically, for maximum clarity, the "quarter" should attach to the nearest full hour, not the next full hour. So 11:15 should be "quarter past eleven" because 11 is the nearest hour, and 12 is more than a half hour away yet. 11:45 should be "quarter to twelve" for the same reason - it gives you a more clear idea of the closest hour.

[@uwezimmermann5427]

Welcome to Team 1! However, where do you put the half-way mark? This would distinguish an English speaker from a Team 1-member: Team 1 "half twelve", English "half past eleven".

[@arzigogolato1]

Question: would it be okay to just read the numbers for the hour? As in 5:45 reading "fünf Uhr fünfundvierzig"?

[@SidMaron]

I'm team 2 since I'm from saxony. :) There was a time when my cousin had to learn what we meant, when we talked about the time since she is from Aachen in Nrw and they are team 1. It just means team 2 understands both ways and team 1 is confused. lol Also, can you say: "How late is it?" in English? It sounds more like a literal translation of "Wie spät ist es?" 🤔

[@Soldier0021]

In Hungarian we say "negyed tizenkettő" (quarter 12) for 11:15

[@wumme]

The important missing bit: team 2 (viertel, halb, dreiviertel) always understands both systems and only pretents to not get team 1. The real struggle is only for some of team 1 which really don't get it. We had such excamples in university. To be helpful we didn't argue we just scheduled every meeting at dreiviertel so after missing several meetings they learned.

[@frauleintaka27]

I grew up with both ways because my parents are from different parts of Germany (my mother is Team 2, my father Team 1 and he's still confused about it sometimes) and it was kind of funny because I used to be confused by "Viertel zwölf" as a small child but at some point when I grew up it just clicked and I switched to using it automatically. I get why "Viertel zwölf" is confusing for Team 1 but I prefer it because it's shorter and more consistent (and sounds better :D ). It's even consistent with "Halb zwölf" which both sides use which always means "half to twelve" (11:30). You could say "Halb vor/nach zwölf" (11:30/12:30) but nobody does which is weird because following Team 1 logic "Halb zwölf" shouldn't be any less confusing than "Viertel zwölf". Team 2 goes through "Viertel/Halb/Dreiviertel zwölf" while Team 1 switches between "Viertel nach elf/Halb zwölf/Viertel vor zwölf". Hach, ich liebe Sprachen :)

[@jasminmullerke5771]

I was born in Hanover so I perferably use "Viertel vor"/"Viertel nach". But I know both versions because my parents are from Saxony-Anhalt.

[@randyherbrechtsmeier4796]

I never Knew That!!!! Thanks Young Trixi!!!!!

[@uwezimmermann5427]

I grew up in Bremerhaven and of course it is "Viertel nach Zehn" right now, but I have no problem understanding the "wrong" half of Germany either, even though it sounds odd. Living in Sweden, Swedes also do the round-down, round-up thing with the half referring to the nest hour (not "half past..." as in English), no problems here. However, the Danes even have a weird counting system which is similar to how we read the clock: "halvfierds" means literally "half fours" meaning "half of four times 20" or to be clear 70 - which lies half-way between 3x20 ("tres"=60) and 4x20 ("firs"=80)... confusing?

[@johnnyboy3949]

Please could you do a video or how to say things like 10 past, 20 past and 10 to and 20 to? I haven’t come across there in my learning yet. Also you are looking as amazing as every today!

[@Issveinn]

This is another set of disturbing matter :-): half of the Germans says: Es ist 20 vor eins. (It´s 20 to one.) the other half says, including me: Es ist zehn nach halb eins. (it is ten after half past twelve.) Or half of the Germans says: Es ist 10 vor drei. (It´s 10 to three.) the other half says, including me: Es ist fünf nach dreiviertel drei. (it is five after three quarter to three.)

[@johnnyboy3949]

@@Issveinn wow. Thats mad! What area are you from so I know to avoid it! 🙈

[@Issveinn]

@@johnnyboy3949 Berlin :-)

[@rickytee1]

For 11:25, do people say: es ist fünf vor halb zwölf?

[@elijabutterfly6154]

Schön dich wider zu sehen.

[@Grogbelly]

Interestingly in other parts of Europe, the UK for instance, you may hear something similar to what Germans would say, but it would likely mean something else entirely. In the example in your video, 11:30 is agreed by essentially all Germans to be "Halb zwolf" (half twelve - AKA halfway to twelve). Meanwhile if you heard "half twelve" in the UK, it would likely mean half-PAST twelve - or 12:30... in the US, terms like half eleven, or half twelve just aren't used very widely, if at all. Americans would say "half past [hour]" or just "[hour] thirty". In the US times like 11:15 or 11:45 would be "quarter past 11" and "quarter to/til 12", never "three quarters to 12" or "three quarters past 11".

[@Ik4318]

The "drei viertel zwölf" style is almost certainly rooted in the fact that the 11:00-12:00 hour is the 12th hour of the day, so the interpretation of "drei viertel zwölf" is "three-quarters of the twelfth hour" not "three-quarters on the way to 12"

[@agricolon]

Ich wohne auch in der Nähe von Hannover und ich kenne vor allem -> Viertel nach... und Dreiviertel... also ein Mix aus Team 1 und 2. ;)

[@wolfgangricklefs5781]

Bottle is always full. If you do not full it completely the remaining part is air.

[@domzi]

Bin aus Österreich, Salzburg. Ich gehör zu Team 1, es ist Viertel nach 8 (8:15). Seit vielen Jahren lebe ich in der Steiermark, Graz (das ist eher im Süden). Hier sagt man Viertel 9 (8:15). Anfangs wunderte ich mich noch, dass die Leite für dieselbe Zeit unterschiedliche Bezeichnungen verwenden ... aber nachdem ich das erste Mal 1 Stunde zu früh beim Termin war, weiß ich jetzt besser 🙈 Ich dachte, Viertel 8 (7:15) wäre dieselbe Zeit wie Viertel NACH 8 (8:15) und man erspart sich einfach das Wort „nach“ bei der Zeitangabe ... denkste!

[@KevinKitten]

Speaking of hands developing a life of their own...What was that strange gesture at 0:10 when the two Germans met? I've never seen that before.

[@spongen984]

Moved to Germany three years ago and living in Brandenburg. Dreiviertel zwölf all the way. Though, it was confusing in the beginning, but that's just cause I never spoke German before moving here.

[@JeeWeeD]

AFAIK, the whole of the Netherlands is team 1 (but then in Dutch, so "kwart over 11", "kwart voor 12")! I had heard about this from rewboss in 2016, but before that, my German teacher never said anything about this split. And tbh, even though I see the logic in team 2's method ("viertel 12" meaning something like a quarter of the 12th hour has passed), for someone totally used to team 1's method, it is unbelievably complicated to get your head around the other method...

[@mundron5290]

As I grew up in the west of Hesse, I'm in team "Viertel vor Zwölf". But in Hungary the literal translation of the time is the same as for team "Dreiviertel Zwölf". That's why it wasn't hard to accept the other team's point of view :-)

[@eliasabdul-rahman4692]

I grew up in the south of Munich and actually were confronted with both ways of telling the time, ever since I was a child. Hated both ways though and therefore switched to saying It's 11 Uhr 15 and so on.

[@Macusercom]

In Austria (at least in Vienna) we say "Viertel Zwölf" for 11:15 🕰️