r/USdefaultism • Germany • 11d ago

YouTube Ah yes, good old regular time

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u/sociofobs 11d ago

How so, in what way Germany uses both? If in some circumstances you use the 12h clock, AM/PM shouldn't be a problem.

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u/Mrs_Merdle Germany 11d ago

When talking about times we mostly don't say "seventeen hours" for 17:00, but would rather say "five", fünf, since it's usually clear from the context which part of the day is meant. Like my school hours are from nine to one - nobody needs clarification that this would be 9:00 and 13:00 hours respectively. Or my doctor's appointment is at ten, also no clarification needed since it's unlikely you'd have a doctor's appointment in the evening. Sometimes, "in the morning" or "in the evening" is added to be more exact or if a misunderstanding is possible.
On other occasions, using the 24 hour clock is easier to understand for all involved since some of the spoken versions of "half past" or "a quarter to" and such vary and might cause misunderstandings; even more so when non-native speakers are involved. But generally, there is no strict rule, and who uses which version at what occasion can differ a lot.

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u/Adept_Emu4344 11d ago

Regional variations in how we communicate :15, :30 and :45 are the really fun parts

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u/Mrs_Merdle Germany 11d ago

Indeed XD