Date and Time in Dutch

Date and Time in Dutch

 

Reading the Clock: Half To or Half Past?

The Dutch read the clock as follows:

6:00 – Zes uur

6:15 – Kwart over zes 6:30 – Half zeven

6:45 – Kwart voor zeven

In other words, half zeven means half an hour to seven, not past seven. This is especially confusing for the British, who refer to 7:30 as “half seven”.

‘S

When in English you say in the morning”, or “at night” etc., you could literally translate it to in de ochtend or in de nacht. However, Dutch has a more common and shorter way of saying it: ‘s ochtends or ‘s avonds.

The ‘s is short for des, which is an old Dutch word meaning van de or in de. In time it was shortened to just ‘s. So, while in old Dutch it would be des ochtends or des nachts, we now say ‘s ochtends or ‘s nachts.

Capitalization

When ‘s morgens or anything else starting with ‘s is at the start of the sentence, something interesting happens with the capitalization. You might expect the ‘s to become ‘S; however, that is not the case, as the “s” is actually the end of a word (see the explanation above). Instead, the capital skips to the next word: ‘s Morgens.

Capitals in Dates

In English, days of the week and months of the year always start with a capital. Dutch doesn’t do this. So while in English you say “It is the first Monday of July,” in Dutch you say Het is de eerste maandag van juli.