You’ve got to know the time if you want to see those Botticelli paintings at the Uffizi in Florence. Luckily, there are two ways to ask "What time is it?" in Italian: Che ora è? and Che ore sono? If the time is one o’clock, noon, or midnight, the answer is in the singular; for all other hours, it is plural. Note that the phrase "o’clock" has no direct equivalent in Italian.
Che ora è? (What time is it?)
Che ore sono? (What time is it?)
è l’una. (It’s one o’clock.)
è mezzogiorno. (It’s noon.)
è mezzanotte. (It’s midnight.)
Sono le tre e quindici. (It’s 3:15.)
è mezzo giorno e dieci. (It’s 12:10.)
COMMON TERMS RELATED TO TELLING TIME
morning
di mattino
noon
mezzogiorno
afternoon
del pomeriggio
evening
di sera
midnight
mezzanotte
a quarter
un quarto
a quarter after/past
e un quarto
half past
e mezzo
a quarter to/before
meno un quarto
sharp
in punto
Store hours, TV timetables, performance listings, and other time references are written differently in Italy. When telling time, commas replace colons. For example, 2:00 becomes 2,00; 2:30 becomes 2,30; 2:50 becomes 2,50.
The following table shows how you would tell the time from 5:00 to 6:00.
TELLING TIME 5:00-6:00
5,00
Sono le cinque.
5,10
Sono le cinque e dieci.
5,15
Sono le cinque e un quarto.
5,20
Sono le cinque e venti.
5,30
Sono le cinque e mezzo.
5,40
Sono le sei meno venti.
5,45
Sono le sei meno un quarto.
5,50
Sono le sei meno dieci.
6,00
Sono le sei.
As in most of Europe, Italy uses the so-called "official time" (equivalent to "military time" in the United States) in train schedules, performances, movie timetables, radio, TV, and office hours. Between friends and in other informal situations, Italians may use the numbers from 1 to 12 to indicate time, and the context of the conversation will usually be sufficient. After all, La Scala doesn’t have performances at eight in the morning!