Lesson 30: Telling the time - Saat Kaç?

In Turkish telling the time is  considered along two dimensions:

1. Announcing the time
2. Setting the time

In the first case we have then to consider whether the time is at the point, before the point or after the point.
The distinction is important because of the different expressions used to tell the time.
Let's see them in detail.
 First of all the  most common expression used to ask for the time is:

SAAT  KAÇ?       What time is it?

At this stage we have to explain how to tell the time in the three different cases.

• At the point:

Examples:

Saat üç       It's three o' clock

Saat altı     It's six o' clock

• Before the point (before the hour or half-hour)

In this case we have to decline the hour into DATIVE and use the unipersonal verb VAR, we already met while explaining the verb TO HAVE.

A couple of examples will help better understand:

Saat  üçe  on var         It's  ten to three

We appended to the hour the dative suffix  -e (remember the vowel harmony) and then put VAR at the end of the sentence.

Saat altıya    yirmi var                 It's  twenty to six.

Here we attached the dative suffix  -(y)a to the hour (again iaw vowel harmony plus the eufonic "y")

• After the point (after the hour and before the half-hour)

In this case we have to decline the hour into ACCUSATIVE  and use the 3rd person singular of present continuous tense of the verb GEÇMEK  (To pass) : GEÇİYOR

A couple of examples will  hopefully clear all doubts.

Saat yediyi on geçiyor    It's ten past seven.

Saat  dokuzu onbeş geçiyor       It's quarter past nine.

In this case we used  the accusative suffixes -(y)i   and  -u.


2. SETTING THE TIME

• At the point

In this case we decline the hour into LOCATIVE (remember the vowel harmony)

Examples:

Saat ikide           At two  o' clock

Saat altıda          At six o' clock

We used here the locative suffixes  -de   and   -da.

• Before the point

In setting the time before the point we do the same as to tell the time before the point plus replacing the word VAR with a derivation of the verb KALMAK (to stay) - KAL.
A few examples will clear any doubt:

Saat beşe  on  kala                 At ten to five

Saat  sekize   yirmi   kala      At  twenty to eight

In setting the time before the point, we decline in DATIVE  the hour and add KAL at the end of the sentence.

• After the point

In setting the time after the point we use the same patten as in announcing the time after the point.
Therefore hour will be declined into ACCUSATIVE and again we will use a derivation of the verb
GEÇMEK   -GEÇE-  to place at the end of the phrase.

A couple of examples:

Saat ikiyi on geçe     At ten past two                            

Saat  bire   sekiz  geçe  At ten past one.

There are other time expressions of common use to indicate the quarter and the half-hours such as:

Çeyrek:   Quarter
Yarım saat: Half an hour
Büçük : This is used to indicate the half- hour at the point ( ex.  Saat iki büçük: 2.30)


As a drill, write in Turkish the following time expressions:

It's    3.45
It's    9.20
At 7.25
At 10.10