StudyIndonesian

Lesson: Telling Time in Indonesian

This lesson is all about telling time in Indonesian. When compared to English, there are a few notable differences in how a clock is read. We’ll go over those differences. You should also know that there are few cultural differences in regards to time itself. You will often hear the phrase “rubber time” or jam karet when in Indonesia. It means that time can be “stretched”, so don’t worry about being on time. This can drive punctual people crazy because they are taught to always be on time. Well, I don’t have time to talk about this anymore, so let’s move on to the lesson. You are invited to practice with the clock below. It’s hands can be moved with your mouse or nose.

Here are a bunch of word for you to learn. Since many words refer to numbers, you should review the Indonesian numbers lesson before moving on.

You will also have to learn these numbers:

When you say the time, you start with the word jam followed by the hour:

If you want to be more specific about the time of day, you can use words like pagi, siang, sore, and malam after the time. These words are equivalent to the English modifiers am or pm, but are much more specific than the latter's 12 hour segments. Please note that a period '.' is used instead of a colon ':' when delineating the hours, minutes, and seconds in Indonesian. At the top of each hour, you should place the time of day after the hour. For other times, you should place the time of day before the time.

Malam really begins when the sun sets. Indonesia is very close to the equator, so the sun's position throughout the year doesn't change as much as other places further from the equator.

Now, let's talk about minutes because there are some things that are different than in English.

• First, use lewat if the number of minutes is less than 30. Lewat means past/after the current hour when telling the time:

• Second, use kurang if the number of minutes is greater than or equal to 30. Kurang means before the next hour when telling the time. As a result, you must say the next hour in addition to the number of minutes that precede it. If you don't state the next hour, then Indonesian speakers will think that you are talking about the previous hour. It takes a little practice, but you will get used to it soon enough:

Like English, you can also break the clock up into quarters and halves to express time for the sake of brevity.

• Use lewat seperempat to represent 15 minutes/a quarter past the hour. It's not necessary to use menit, so drop it.

• Use kurang seperempat to represent 15 minutes/a quarter before the next hour. Again, remember to specify the next hour, not the current hour. It's not necessary to use menit, so drop it:

• Use setengah to represent 30 minutes/a half an hour before the next hour. Again, remember to specify the next hour, not the current hour. It's not necessary to use kurang or menit, so drop both:

Finally, when writing Indonesian or if you want to express time using the 24 hour clock (military time), you simply write the time as a number without using lewat, kurang, setengah, seperempat, menit, etc.: