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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
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Daytime Mchana
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Afternoon Alasiri
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Evening Jioni
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Night Usiku
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Minute Dakika
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Half Nusu
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Time Saa
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Quarter to Kasorobo
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Quarter past na robo
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Less Kasoro
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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
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7:00 a.m. 1:00 in the morning Saa moja asubuhi
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8:00 a.m. 2:00 in the morning Saa mbili asubuhi
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9:00 a.m. 3:00 in the morning Saa tatu asubuhi
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10:00 a.m. 4:00 in the morning Saa nne asubuhi
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11:00 a.m. 5:00 in the morning Saa tano asubuhi
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12:00 p.m. (Noon) 6:00 in the afternoon Saa sita alasiri
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1:00 p.m. 7:00 in the afternoon Saa saba alasiri
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2:00 p.m. 8:00 in the afternoon Saa nane alasiri
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3:00 p.m. 9:00 in the afternoon Saa tisa alasiri
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4:00 p.m. 10:00 in the evening Saa kumi jioni
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5:00 p.m. 11:00 in the evening Saa kumi na moja jioni
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6:00 p.m. 12:00 in the evening Saa kumi na mbili jioni
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7:00 p.m. 1:00 in the evening Saa moja jioni
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8:00 p.m. 2:00 in the night Saa mbili usiku
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9:00 p.m. 3:00 in the night Saa tatu usiku
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10:00 p.m. 4:00 in the night Saa nne usiku
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11:00 p.m. 5:00 in the night Saa tano usiku
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12:00 a.m. (Midnight) 6:00 in the night Saa sita usiku
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1:00 a.m. 7:00 in the night Saa saba usiku
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2:00 a.m. 8:00 in the night Saa nane usiku
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3:00 a.m. 9:00 in the night Saa tisa usiku
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4:00 a.m. 10:00 in the morning Saa kumi asubuhi
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5:00 a.m. 11:00 in the morning Saa kumi na moja asubuhi
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How to say specific time with minutes in Swahili.
English Swahili 9:45 Saa nne kasorobo
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11:30 Saa tano unusu
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10:15 Saa nne na robo
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12:15 Saa sita na dakika kumi na tano
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8:20 Saa mbili na dakika ishirini
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7:40 Saa moja na dakika arobaini
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6:50 Saa kumi na mbili na dakika hamsini
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Quiz
Great site but please make the following correction above: 12:12 – Saa sita na dakika kumi na mbili.
*12:12 Saa sita na dakika kumi na mbili