Telling the Time in Swedish
In Swedish, halv tre means 2:30, not 3:30: the half is counted towards the coming hour, so "half three" is half an hour before three.
Asking the time
Klockan means both "the clock" and "o'clock". You use it to ask, to answer, and to say when something happens.
| Vad är klockan? | What time is it? |
| Hur mycket är klockan? | What time is it? (also very common) |
| Vet du vad klockan är? | Do you know what time it is? |
| Klockan är tre. | It's three o'clock. |
| Den är tre. | It's three. (short answer) |
| Vi ses klockan sju. | See you at seven. |
| Hur dags kommer du? | What time are you coming? |
Note that "at seven" is simply klockan sju, with no preposition. Hur dags? is the everyday way to ask "at what time?"; när? ("when?") works too.
Full hours
For one o'clock you say klockan ett, with ett, not en. The other hours are the plain numbers: klockan två, tre, fyra… tolv.
| klockan ett | one o'clock |
| klockan fem | five o'clock |
| klockan tolv | twelve o'clock |
| klockan tre prick | three o'clock sharp |
| vid fyratiden | around four |
| runt åtta | around eight |
Halv: the classic trap
In Swedish, halv points forward to the next hour: halv tre is "half (way) to three", so 2:30. English speakers say "half past two", so this takes practice. German and Dutch speakers will recognise the pattern. British English is a particular trap: "half three" means 3:30, the exact opposite of Swedish halv tre.
| halv ett | 12:30 |
| halv tre | 2:30 (not 3:30!) |
| halv sex | 5:30 |
| halv tio | 9:30 |
| Tåget går halv åtta. | The train leaves at 7:30. |
A quick check
When you hear halv, take the hour before the one you hear: halv fyra = 3:30, halv tolv = 11:30, halv ett = 12:30.
Past and to: över, i and kvart
Över means "past" and i means "to". The minutes come first, then över or i, then the hour: fem över tre is 3:05, tio i fyra is 3:50. A quarter is kvart: kvart över tre (3:15), kvart i fyra (3:45).
Around the half hour: fem i halv
From 3:25 to 3:35, Swedes count from halv: fem i halv fyra is "five to half-to-four", so 3:25, and fem över halv fyra is 3:35. This is where the system feels most foreign, but you'll hear it all the time.
For 3:20 and 3:40 there are two ways, and both are common: tjugo över tre or tio i halv fyra (3:20), and tjugo i fyra or tio över halv fyra (3:40). Learn to recognise both; pick one to use yourself.
One hour, the way it's said
Here is one hour, from three to four, as it's usually said.
| klockan tre | 3:00 |
| fem över tre | 3:05 |
| tio över tre | 3:10 |
| kvart över tre | 3:15 |
| tjugo över tre / tio i halv fyra | 3:20 |
| fem i halv fyra | 3:25 |
| halv fyra | 3:30 |
| fem över halv fyra | 3:35 |
| tjugo i fyra / tio över halv fyra | 3:40 |
| kvart i fyra | 3:45 |
| tio i fyra | 3:50 |
| fem i fyra | 3:55 |
| klockan fyra | 4:00 |
For times that aren't multiples of five, add minuter: sju minuter över tre (3:07), två minuter i halv fyra (3:28). In practice people often round: den är ungefär tio över ("it's about ten past").
Morning, afternoon, evening
Spoken Swedish mostly uses the 12-hour clock and adds the part of the day when it isn't obvious.
| klockan sju på morgonen | seven in the morning |
| klockan tio på förmiddagen | ten in the morning (late morning) |
| mitt på dagen | in the middle of the day |
| klockan tre på eftermiddagen | three in the afternoon |
| klockan åtta på kvällen | eight in the evening |
| klockan två på natten | two at night |
| vid midnatt | at midnight |
To talk about today, Swedish uses i with the part of the day: i morse ("this morning", already past), i eftermiddag ("this afternoon"), i kväll ("this evening, tonight") and i natt ("tonight" or "last night", depending on context). Jag sov dåligt i natt means last night; Vi ses i kväll is later today.
The 24-hour clock
Timetables, opening hours, tickets and invitations use the 24-hour clock. In writing, hours and minutes are usually separated by a full stop (14.30), though you'll also see a colon (14:30). The abbreviation for klockan is kl.
When people read a 24-hour time aloud, they say the hours and then the minutes; the och in between is optional.
| kl. 14.30 – fjorton (och) trettio | 14:30 (2:30 pm) |
| kl. 08.15 – åtta (och) femton | 08:15 |
| kl. 17.45 – sjutton fyrtiofem | 17:45 |
| kl. 20.00 – klockan tjugo | 20:00 (8 pm) |
| Bussen går 16.12. | The bus leaves at 16:12. |
| Öppet mån–fre 10–18 | Open Mon–Fri 10 am–6 pm (on a sign) |
Expect both: you'll often hear the same time both ways. A colleague may say mötet är klockan tre while the calendar says 15.00.
How long something takes
| en kvart | a quarter of an hour |
| en halvtimme | half an hour |
| tre kvart | three quarters of an hour |
| en och en halv timme | an hour and a half |
| Jag kommer om en kvart. | I'll be there in fifteen minutes. |
| Hur lång tid tar det? | How long does it take? |
| Det tar ungefär en timme. | It takes about an hour. |
| Jag är tio minuter sen. | I'm ten minutes late. |
Small prepositions change the meaning, just as in English:
- om en timme: "in an hour" (from now). Filmen börjar om en timme.
- i en timme: "for an hour" (duration). Vi pratade i en timme.
- på en timme: "in an hour" (how long it took). Jag läste boken på en timme.
Practise it
The fastest way to learn the clock is to say the time in Swedish every time you look at your phone. Start with halv, since that's the one that causes missed trains. For the numbers themselves, see our guide to Swedish numbers and the numbers word list.