Exercise
Tell the time in Indonesian
Two ways to practise: read the clock and say the time in Indonesian, or hear/read the Indonesian and drag the hands to match. The Malay version is shown underneath.
Drag the hands (red = minutes, dark = hours).
Tip: the top line is Bahasa Indonesia, the 🇲🇾 line is the Bahasa Melayu way of saying the same time.
How to tell the time in Indonesian
Indonesian uses a 12-hour clock with a word for the part of the day, and a few fixed patterns for the minutes. Once you know the numbers, it is very regular:
- On the hour — pukul + number: pukul tiga = 3 o'clock (jam tiga in casual speech).
- Minutes past — lewat: pukul tiga lewat sepuluh = 3:10. Quarter past is lewat seperempat.
- Half past — setengah + the next hour: setengah empat = 3:30 (literally "half four").
- Minutes to — kurang: pukul empat kurang sepuluh = 3:50. Quarter to is kurang seperempat.
- Part of the day — pagi (morning), siang (midday), sore (afternoon), malam (evening/night): pukul delapan malam = 8 PM.
- Minute word — you can add menit after the minutes (lewat sepuluh menit), but it is usually dropped.
And in Malay?
- Malay also says pukul tiga, but half past is pukul tiga setengah (the current hour, not the next one).
- Quarter past is suku (pukul tiga suku) and quarter to is tiga suku (pukul tiga tiga suku = 3:45).
- Other minutes simply follow the hour with minit: pukul tiga sepuluh minit = 3:10.
- Afternoon is petang (not sore), midday is tengah hari, and eight is lapan instead of delapan.
Tips to learn Indonesian time faster
- Make sure your Indonesian numbers are solid; every time depends on them.
- Learn the four day-part words (pagi, siang, sore, malam) — they replace AM and PM.
- Drill setengah separately: "half four" meaning 3:30 is the one thing that trips up English speakers.
- Start with whole hours, then add half hours, then minutes — use the difficulty buttons above.
- Always say it out loud and compare with the audio.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say the time in Indonesian?
Use pukul + the hour: pukul tiga is 3 o'clock. Minutes past use lewat (pukul tiga lewat sepuluh = 3:10), minutes to use kurang (pukul tiga kurang lima = 2:55), and half past is setengah + the next hour (setengah empat = 3:30).
How do you say AM and PM in Indonesian?
Add the part of the day: pagi (morning, roughly 4–10), siang (midday, 11–14), sore (afternoon, 15–18) and malam (evening and night). So 8 PM is pukul delapan malam.
Is it the same in Malay?
Very similar. Malay also uses pukul, but for the afternoon it says petang instead of sore, and half past is pukul tiga setengah for 3:30.
Next: practise saying the date in Indonesian, or build the numbers you need with the numbers & quantities flashcards.