Clock time, then part of the day: 7 giờ tối

Vietnamese has no a.m. or p.m. Instead, you say the hour and then the part of the day: bảy giờ sáng is 7 a.m., bảy giờ tối is 7 p.m. The part of the day comes after the hour, even after the minutes: tám giờ rưỡi sáng, half past eight in the morning. With nay or mai it can also go first: Tối nay bảy giờ nha. Seven tonight, OK?

The parts of the day are sáng (morning), trưa (around midday), chiều (afternoon), tối (evening) and đêm (night). Noon is mười hai giờ trưa and midnight is mười hai giờ đêm. The edges are loose: you'll hear both sáu giờ chiều and sáu giờ tối. For the small hours, sáng is common: hai giờ sáng.

When it's obvious, the part of the day is left out: Mấy giờ em về? Bảy giờ. When it isn't, add it, or ask: Bảy giờ sáng hay bảy giờ tối?

Timetables, tickets and official notices use the 24-hour clock: 19 giờ, often written 19h. In conversation, people usually turn it back into bảy giờ tối, though you'll also hear mười chín giờ at work or on the news.