# Number + giờ / rưỡi / kém: clock time in Vietnamese

> For the hour, say the number and then giờ (o'clock): bảy giờ, seven o'clock. For minutes, add the number after it: bảy giờ mười lăm, 7:15.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/telling-time/ · Updated 2026-11-10

**clock time**

Pattern: `[number] + giờ (+ [number] + phút) · giờ rưỡi · [hour] + kém + [minutes] · Mấy giờ rồi?`

Level: A1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: gio, ruoi, kem

Variants:

- đúng X giờ
- X giờ thiếu Y (sometimes heard in the South)
- 16 giờ 30 (official)

For the hour, say the number and then *giờ* (o'clock): *bảy giờ*, seven o'clock. For minutes, add the number after it: *bảy giờ mười lăm*, 7:15. You can add *phút* (minutes), but in speech it's often left off, except usually for one to nine minutes: *mười giờ năm phút*, 10:05. Half past is *rưỡi*: *bảy giờ rưỡi*. "Sharp" is *đúng*: *đúng bảy giờ*.

For the minutes before the hour, use *kém* (short of): *tám giờ kém mười* is ten to eight, literally "eight o'clock short ten". The hour comes first, the opposite of English. You'll sometimes hear *thiếu* instead of *kém* in the South, and many Saigon speakers simply count the minutes up: *bảy giờ năm mươi*.

To ask the time, say *Mấy giờ rồi?* The *rồi* means "by now", and the answer usually keeps it: *Chín giờ rưỡi rồi.* It's half past nine. To say "at" a time, put *lúc* before it: *Xe buýt chạy lúc tám giờ.* The bus leaves at eight. To ask when, use *(lúc) mấy giờ*: *Mấy giờ xe chạy?*

For morning or evening, add *sáng*, *chiều* or *tối* at the end: *bảy giờ tối*. Timetables use the 24-hour clock, often written *19h30*. For a length of time in hours, people usually say *tiếng*: *hai tiếng*, two hours. *Hai giờ* alone sounds like two o'clock; if you use *giờ*, say *hai giờ đồng hồ*.

## A common mistake

✗ Bây giờ là mười phút kém tám giờ.

✓ Bây giờ là tám giờ kém mười.

The hour always comes first, then *kém* and the minutes: *tám giờ kém mười*, "eight short ten".

## Examples

- Mấy giờ rồi em? — What time is it?
- Dạ, chín giờ rưỡi rồi. — It's half past nine.
- Xe buýt chạy lúc tám giờ kém mười lăm. — The bus leaves at a quarter to eight.
- Bây giờ là mười giờ năm phút. — It's five past ten.
- Saigon: Đúng sáu giờ chị tới đón em nha. | Hà Nội: Đúng sáu giờ chị đến đón em nhé. — I'll pick you up at six sharp.

## Words in this pattern

- [rưỡi](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/ruoi-half/#lx_ruoi): half

## Compare

- [At what time? mấy giờ, first or last](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/may-gio-what-time/): what time …?
- [Hours of duration: tiếng (giờ is o'clock)](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/tieng-hours/): hours (length)

Previous in Time and when things happen: [Still: vẫn / còn / vẫn còn](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/van-con-still/)
Next in Time and when things happen: [This, last, next: tuần này, tuần trước, tuần sau](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/this-last-next/)

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