Mấy giờ rồi? — Telling time

What you will learn

This lesson covers asking the time, giving full-hour and half-hour answers, and recognizing a few common ways Vietnamese speakers talk about the clock.

1. Ask the time

Mấy giờ rồi? means “What time is it?”

You may also hear Bây giờ là mấy giờ? — “What time is it now?”

2. Full hours

• Bây giờ là tám giờ. — It is 8:00.
• Chín giờ. — 9:00.
• Mười một giờ. — 11:00.

When context is clear, Vietnamese often leaves out bây giờ là.

3. Minutes

• Tám giờ mười. — 8:10.
• Chín giờ mười lăm. — 9:15.
• Mười giờ hai mươi. — 10:20.

4. Rưỡi — half

Tám giờ rưỡi means 8:30. The word rưỡi means “half” in this type of expression.

5. Kém — minutes to

You may hear kém for time before the next hour:

Chín giờ kém mười. — Ten minutes to nine (8:50).

Beginners do not need to force this form. If you are comfortable saying tám giờ năm mươi, you can communicate clearly.

6. A short conversation

A: Mấy giờ rồi?

B: Bảy giờ rưỡi.

A: Mấy giờ mình đi?

B: Tám giờ.

A: Vậy còn ba mươi phút.

7. Useful vocabulary

• giờ — hour / o’clock
• phút — minute
• bây giờ — now
• mấy giờ — what time
• rưỡi — half
• kém — short of / to, in clock expressions
• đi — go
• còn — remain / still / left, depending on context

8. Parts of the day

Vietnamese commonly adds words such as sáng (morning), trưa (noon), chiều (afternoon) and tối (evening/night):

• 8 giờ sáng — 8 a.m.
• 2 giờ chiều — 2 p.m.
• 7 giờ tối — 7 p.m.

9. Common beginner mistake

Do not assume that every Vietnamese speaker will use a 24-hour spoken form in ordinary conversation just because schedules may be written that way. Everyday speech often uses the 12-hour clock plus the part of the day.

Try it

1. Say 8:00, 8:15 and 8:30.
2. Say 7 p.m. using tối.
3. Ask someone what time it is.
4. Say what time you usually eat dinner.

Quick recap

Use Mấy giờ rồi? to ask the time. Build answers with giờ, minutes, and useful expressions such as rưỡi. Add a part of the day when it helps clarify the time.