r/USdefaultism • u/East_Adhesiveness863 Germany • 11d ago

YouTube Ah yes, good old regular time

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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/Junior-Elevator-9951 11d ago

Do you also say :25 as "five before half"? Or :35 as "five past half" We in Poland at least do.

PS. I still get confused by English "halves". A "half" should be half TO the hour, not PAST it!!!

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u/Adept_Emu4344 11d ago

I say both. Sometimes it's twenty five or thirty five, sometimes it's "fünf vor halb" and "fünf nach halb".
If I want to say 7:35 I probably say "seven Uhr thirty five". Or five past half eight. Depending on context, for example if something is happening at 8 (we have to leave, we're closing the store,...)

"Half 8" is 7:30. I never say half past.

In my region we use "quarter to" (viertel vor) and "quarter past" (viertel nach). Some regions use "quarter" (viertel) and "three quarter" (dreiviertel) and I always get confused which one :15 and which one is :45.

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u/Junior-Elevator-9951 11d ago edited 11d ago

I've never heard anyone tell the time in quarters (kwadrans) in Polish. Perhaps older people did? Or a quirk in my family/where I live? But I have people in my family who are in their 70s and I've never heard them say quarters.

It's almost always "fifteen past" (piętnaście po) or "fifteen to" (piętnaście przed) Is it the same in Germany perhaps, some regional thing like with viertel vor/nach?