How to Tell Time in Swahili

by Julius Muange on Jun 12, 2017

In Swahili, the time is measured from sunrise to sunset (daytime) and sunset to sunrise (night time). This is primarily because most Swahili speaking countries are on the equator and the times for sunrise and sunset are almost identical year-round.

The counting of time starts from 6:00 a.m. on the English clock. 7:00 a.m. is said as Saa moja asubuhi (the first hour in the morning), and so on. Therefore, the Swahili times are offset by 6 hours from their English versions. Below are all the hours of the day in the English clock, their equivalent Swahili time, and how to say them in Swahili.

Vocabulary

English	Swahili
Morning	Asubuhi
Daytime	Mchana
Afternoon	Alasiri
Evening	Jioni
Night	Usiku
Minute	Dakika
Half	Nusu
Time	Saa
Quarter to	Kasorobo
Quarter past	na robo
Less	Kasoro

Visit our blog on numbers to brush up on the Swahili translations for numbers, as you will need to know those to understand how to tell time in Swahili. Here is how to say specific time with minutes in Swahili.

English	Swahili Time	Swahili
6:00 a.m.	12:00 in the morning	Saa Kumi na mbili asubuhi
7:00 a.m.	1:00 in the morning	Saa moja asubuhi
8:00 a.m.	2:00 in the morning	Saa mbili asubuhi
9:00 a.m.	3:00 in the morning	Saa tatu asubuhi
10:00 a.m.	4:00 in the morning	Saa nne asubuhi
11:00 a.m.	5:00 in the morning	Saa tano asubuhi
12:00 p.m. (Noon)	6:00 in the afternoon	Saa sita alasiri
1:00 p.m.	7:00 in the afternoon	Saa saba alasiri
2:00 p.m.	8:00 in the afternoon	Saa nane alasiri
3:00 p.m.	9:00 in the afternoon	Saa tisa alasiri
4:00 p.m.	10:00 in the evening	Saa kumi jioni
5:00 p.m.	11:00 in the evening	Saa kumi na moja jioni
6:00 p.m.	12:00 in the evening	Saa kumi na mbili jioni / Thenashara
7:00 p.m.	1:00 in the evening	Saa moja jioni
8:00 p.m.	2:00 in the night	Saa mbili usiku
9:00 p.m.	3:00 in the night	Saa tatu usiku
10:00 p.m.	4:00 in the night	Saa nne usiku
11:00 p.m.	5:00 in the night	Saa tano usiku
12:00 a.m. (Midnight)	6:00 in the night	Saa sita usiku
1:00 a.m.	7:00 in the night	Saa saba usiku
2:00 a.m.	8:00 in the night	Saa nane usiku
3:00 a.m.	9:00 in the night	Saa tisa usiku
4:00 a.m.	10:00 in the morning	Saa kumi asubuhi
5:00 a.m.	11:00 in the morning	Saa kumi na moja asubuhi

How to say specific time with minutes in Swahili.

English	Swahili
9:45	Saa nne kasorobo
11:30	Saa tano unusu / Saa tano na nusu
10:15	Saa nne na robo
12:15	Saa sita na dakika kumi na tano
8:20	Saa mbili na dakika ishirini
7:40	Saa moja na dakika arobaini / Saa mbili kasoro dakika ishirini
6:50	Saa kumi na mbili na dakika hamsini / Saa moja kasoro dakika kumi