Telling Time in Punjabi: What Time Is It, O'Clock, Half Past, and Words for Today, Tomorrow and Now

"What time is it?" in Punjabi is Kinne vajje han? (ਕਿੰਨੇ ਵੱਜੇ ਹਨ?) — literally "how many have struck?" — or, just as often, Time ki hoya hai? The answer is the number plus vajje: tinn vajje han (ਤਿੰਨ ਵੱਜੇ ਹਨ, it's three o'clock). Half past is saadhe (saadhe tinn, 3:30), quarter past is sava (sava tinn, 3:15), quarter to is paune (paune chaar, 3:45) — with two famous exceptions, dedh (1:30) and dhaai (2:30). Here is the whole system, the parts of the day, and the time words (ajj, kall, hun) you'll use far more than the clock.

Asking the Time

English	Punjabi	Gurmukhi
What time is it?	Kinne vajje han?	ਕਿੰਨੇ ਵੱਜੇ ਹਨ?
What time is it? (colloquial)	Time ki hoya hai?	ਟਾਈਮ ਕੀ ਹੋਇਆ ਹੈ?
It's one o'clock	Ik vajia hai	ਇੱਕ ਵੱਜਿਆ ਹੈ
It's two o'clock	Do vajje han	ਦੋ ਵੱਜੇ ਹਨ
It's ten o'clock	Das vajje han	ਦਸ ਵੱਜੇ ਹਨ
It's twelve o'clock	Baaraan vajje han	ਬਾਰਾਂ ਵੱਜੇ ਹਨ
At what time?	Kinne vajje?	ਕਿੰਨੇ ਵੱਜੇ?
At five o'clock	Paanj vajje	ਪੰਜ ਵੱਜੇ

Vajje comes from vajjna, "to strike" (as a clock or a bell does), so tinn vajje is "three have struck". One o'clock is singular — ik vajia hai — because only one has struck. For the numbers themselves, see Punjabi numbers 1–100.

Half Past, Quarter Past, Quarter To

Time	Punjabi	Gurmukhi	Literally
3:15	Sava tinn	ਸਵਾ ਤਿੰਨ	three and a quarter
3:30	Saadhe tinn	ਸਾਢੇ ਤਿੰਨ	three and a half
3:45	Paune chaar	ਪੌਣੇ ਚਾਰ	three-quarters of four
1:30	Dedh	ਡੇਢ	one and a half — its own word, never saadhe ik
2:30	Dhaai	ਢਾਈ	two and a half — its own word, never saadhe do
1:15	Sava ik	ਸਵਾ ਇੱਕ	one and a quarter
12:45	Paune ik	ਪੌਣੇ ਇੱਕ	three-quarters of one
3:10	Tinn vaj ke das mint	ਤਿੰਨ ਵੱਜ ਕੇ ਦਸ ਮਿੰਟ	three struck, then ten minutes
3:50	Chaar vajjan vich das mint	ਚਾਰ ਵੱਜਣ ਵਿੱਚ ਦਸ ਮਿੰਟ	ten minutes until four strikes
Half an hour	Adha ghanta	ਅੱਧਾ ਘੰਟਾ	—
Three-quarters of an hour	Paun ghanta	ਪੌਣ ਘੰਟਾ	—
An hour and a half	Dedh ghanta	ਡੇਢ ਘੰਟਾ	—

Sava, saadhe, paune, dedh and dhaai work for anything, not just time: dedh kilo (1.5 kg), dhaai sau (250), saadhe paanj saal (5½ years).

Parts of the Day

English	Punjabi	Gurmukhi	Notes
Pre-dawn (roughly 3–6 am)	Amrit vela	ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਵੇਲਾ	"the ambrosial hour", the time of morning prayer
Early morning	Tadke	ਤੜਕੇ	tadke uthna, to rise early
Morning / in the morning	Savera / savere	ਸਵੇਰ / ਸਵੇਰੇ	savere satt vajje — 7 am
Noon, afternoon / at noon	Dupehar / dupehre	ਦੁਪਹਿਰ / ਦੁਪਹਿਰੇ	dupehre do vajje — 2 pm
Evening / in the evening	Shaam / shaami	ਸ਼ਾਮ / ਸ਼ਾਮੀਂ	shaam de satt vajje — 7 pm
Night / at night	Raat / raati	ਰਾਤ / ਰਾਤੀਂ	raat de das vajje — 10 pm
Midnight	Adhi raat	ਅੱਧੀ ਰਾਤ	—

Punjabi doesn't use a.m. and p.m.; it says savere (morning), dupehre, shaam de or raat de before the hour — savere de satt is 7 am, shaam de satt is 7 pm. For greetings by time of day, see good morning and good night in Punjabi.

Time Words: Today, Tomorrow, Now, Later

English	Punjabi	Gurmukhi	Pronunciation
Today	Ajj	ਅੱਜ	ujj
Tomorrow and yesterday	Kall	ਕੱਲ੍ਹ	kull
Day after tomorrow and day before yesterday	Parson	ਪਰਸੋਂ	pur-SON
Now	Hun	ਹੁਣ	hun
Right now, just now	Hune	ਹੁਣੇ	hu-NAY
Later	Baad vich	ਬਾਅਦ ਵਿੱਚ	baad vich
Before, earlier, first	Pehlaan	ਪਹਿਲਾਂ	peh-LAAN
Soon; quickly; early	Jaldi	ਜਲਦੀ	JUL-dee
Late; delay	Der	ਦੇਰ	dayr
Early (in the day)	Savakhte	ਸਵਖ਼ਤੇ	sa-VUKH-tay
Always	Hamesha	ਹਮੇਸ਼ਾ	ha-MAY-shaa
Often	Aksar	ਅਕਸਰ	UK-sur
Sometimes	Kadi kadi	ਕਦੀ ਕਦੀ	KA-dee KA-dee
Never	Kade nahi	ਕਦੇ ਨਹੀਂ	ka-DAY na-HEEN
Every day	Har roz	ਹਰ ਰੋਜ਼	hur roz
Hour / minute / second	Ghanta / mint / sakint	ਘੰਟਾ / ਮਿੰਟ / ਸਕਿੰਟ	GHUN-taa / mint / sa-KINT
Week / month / year	Hafta / mahina / saal	ਹਫ਼ਤਾ / ਮਹੀਨਾ / ਸਾਲ	HUF-taa / ma-HEE-naa / saal
Time (a point or period)	Vela / samaa / time	ਵੇਲਾ / ਸਮਾਂ / ਟਾਈਮ	VAY-laa / sa-MAAN
Once / twice	Ik vaar / do vaar	ਇੱਕ ਵਾਰ / ਦੋ ਵਾਰ	ikk vaar / do vaar

Kall means both yesterday and tomorrow; the verb tells you which. Oh kall aaya si (he came yesterday — past tense) versus Oh kall aavega (he'll come tomorrow — future tense). Parson works the same way two days out. The days of the week are in days and months in Punjabi.

Everyday Phrases About Time

English	Punjabi	Gurmukhi
What time will you come?	Tusi kinne vajje aaoge?	ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਿੰਨੇ ਵੱਜੇ ਆਓਗੇ?
I'll come at five	Main paanj vajje aavaanga / aavaangi	ਮੈਂ ਪੰਜ ਵੱਜੇ ਆਵਾਂਗਾ / ਆਵਾਂਗੀ
It's late / I'm running late	Der ho gayi	ਦੇਰ ਹੋ ਗਈ
Hurry up	Jaldi karo	ਜਲਦੀ ਕਰੋ
It's time (to go)	Time ho gaya	ਟਾਈਮ ਹੋ ਗਿਆ
Wait a little	Thodi der ruko	ਥੋੜ੍ਹੀ ਦੇਰ ਰੁਕੋ
How long will it take?	Kinni der lagegi?	ਕਿੰਨੀ ਦੇਰ ਲੱਗੇਗੀ?
I'll be there in ten minutes	Das mint vich aaya	ਦਸ ਮਿੰਟ ਵਿੱਚ ਆਇਆ
Not now, later	Hun nahi, baad vich	ਹੁਣ ਨਹੀਂ, ਬਾਅਦ ਵਿੱਚ
Every day at seven	Har roz satt vajje	ਹਰ ਰੋਜ਼ ਸੱਤ ਵੱਜੇ
There's still time	Haale time hai	ਹਾਲੇ ਟਾਈਮ ਹੈ
I don't have time	Mere kol time nahi hai	ਮੇਰੇ ਕੋਲ ਟਾਈਮ ਨਹੀਂ ਹੈ

Two quirks worth knowing. "Das mint vich aaya" uses the past tense for something about to happen — "I've (as good as) arrived" — and is the standard way to say you're on your way. And "do mint" (two minutes) is a unit of Punjabi politeness, not of time: when an auntie says the food is two minutes away, sit down.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you ask "what time is it" in Punjabi?

Kinne vajje han? (ਕਿੰਨੇ ਵੱਜੇ ਹਨ?) or colloquially Time ki hoya hai? Answer with the number plus vajje: chaar vajje han, it's four o'clock.

How do you say half past in Punjabi?

Saadhe before the hour: saadhe chaar is 4:30. The exceptions are 1:30, dedh, and 2:30, dhaai. Quarter past is sava, quarter to is paune.

What does vajje mean?

Vajje means "struck" (from vajjna, to strike), as a clock strikes the hour — so tinn vajje is "three o'clock". One o'clock is singular: ik vajia.

How do you say today, tomorrow and yesterday in Punjabi?

Today is ajj (ਅੱਜ). Tomorrow and yesterday are both kall (ਕੱਲ੍ਹ) — the verb tense shows which. The day after tomorrow and the day before yesterday are both parson.

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